mm 

I 


HALL 


EillUlllI  tiltiliilliillfll  lilllilllt 


;!'  ||P|  lM\ 


■ 


»%\ 


111. 


California 

,egional 

acility 


1 11 

Lin 


HftHUHiifIIfeft]UU(lHUtflU}l(UUnMtUUnItNMHUl<tHftTifffUllUUUHHin^UHH^uUnlUU^UUMnH;^,HUtUfTi^^r}tUHi(^^:^H??' 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


HALCYONE 


By  ELINOR   GLYN 


Halcyone 

Illustrated.      i2tno.      $1.30   net. 

The  Reason  Why 

Illustrated.      i2tno.      $1.30   net. 

His  Hour 

Illustrated.      i2mo.      $1.30. 


D.   APPLETON   AND   COMPANY 

New  York  and  London 


175 


HALCYONE 


BY 

ELINOR  GLYN 

AUTHOR    OF    "THE    REASON    WHY,"    "  HIS   HOUR," 
"THREE    WEEKS,"     ETC. 


NEW    YORK 
D.    APPLETON    AND    COMPANY 

1912 


Copyright,  1912,  by 
D.  APPLETON  AND  COMPANY 


Published  July,   nil 


i 


TO  THE  MEMORY 

OF 
MY  KIND  FRIEND 

LORD  ST.  HELIER 

WHOSE  SYMPATHY  WITH  MY  CLASSICAL  STUDIES 
SO  GREATLY  ENCOURAGED  THEM 


644476 


APA2ANTI    IIA0EIN 


"  And  now  they  are  past  the  last  blue  headland  and  in 
the  open  sea;  and  there  is  nothing  round  them  but  the  waves 
and  the  shy  and  the  wind.  But  the  waves  are  gentle  and 
the  sky  is  clear,  and  the  breeze  is  tender  and  low;  for  these 
are  the  days  when  Halcyone  and  Ceyx  build  their  nest  and 
no  storms  ever  ruffle  the  pleasant  summer  sea.  And  who 
were  Halcyone  and  Ceyx?  Halcyone  was  a  fairy  maiden, 
the  daughter  of  the  beach  and  of  the  wind.  And  she  loved 
a  sailor-boy  and  married  him;  and  none  on  earth  were  so 
happy  as  they.  But  at  last  Ceyx  was  wrecked;  and  before 
he  could  swim  to  the  shore,  the  billows  swallowed  him  up. 
And  Halcyone  saw  him  drowning  and  leapt  into  the  sea  to 
him;  but  in  vain.  Then  the  Immortals  took  pity  on  them 
both,  and  changed  them  into  two  fair  sea-birds,  and  now 
they  build  a  floating  nest  every  year  and  sail  up  and  down 
happily  for  ever  upon  the  pleasant  seas  of  Greece." 

The  Heroes^  Kingsley. 


HALCYONE 

CHAPTER  I 

OUTSIDE  one  of  the  park  gates  there  was  a 
little  house.  In  the  prosperous  days  of  the  La 
Sarthe  it  had  been  the  land  steward's  —  but 
when  there  was  no  longer  any  land  to  steward  it  had 
gone  with  the  rest,  and  for  several  years  had  been  unin- 
habited. 

One  day  in  early  spring  Halcyone  saw  smoke  coming 
out  of  the  chimney.  This  was  too  interesting  a  fact 
not  to  be  investigated ;  she  resented  it,  too  —  because  a 
hole  in  the  park  paling  had  often  let  her  into  the  garden 
and  there  was  a  particularly  fine  apple  tree  there  whose 
fruit  she  had  yearly  enjoyed. 

She  crept  nearer,  a  tall,  slender  shape,  with  mouse- 
colored  hair  waving  down  her  back,  and  a  scarlet  cap 
pulled  jauntily  over  her  brow  —  the  delightful  feeling 
of  adventure  tingling  in  her  veins.  Yes,  the  gap  was 
there,  it  had  not  been  mended  yet  —  she  would  penetrate 
and  see  for  herself  who  this  intruder  could  be. 

She  climbed  through  and  stole  along  the  orchard  and 
up  to  the  house.  Signs  of  mending  were  around  the 
windows,  in  the  shape  of  a  new  board  here  and  there  in 

1 


HALCYONE 

the  shutters ;  but  nothing  further.  She  peeped  over  the 
low  sill,  and  there  her  eyes  met  those  of  an  old  man  seated 
in  a  shabby  armchair,  amid  piles  and  piles  of  books. 
He  had  evidently  been  reading  while  he  smoked  a  long, 
clay  pipe. 

He  was  a  fine  old  man  with  a  splendid  presence,  his 
gray  hair  was  longer  than  is  usual  and  a  silvery  beard 
flowed  over  his  chest. 

Halcyone  at  once  likened  him  to  Cheiron  in  the 
picture  of  him  in  her  volume  of  Kingsley's  "  Heroes." 

They  stared  at  one  another  and  the  old  man  rose 
and  came  to  the  window. 

Halcyone  did  not  move. 

"  Who  are  you,  little  girl?  "  he  said.  "  And  what  do 
you  want  ?  " 

"  I  want  to  know  who  you  are,  and  why  you  have 
come  here?  "  she  answered  fearlessly.  "  I  am  Halcyone, 
you  know." 

The  old  man  smiled. 

u  That  ought  to  tell  me  everj'thing,"  he  said,  gravely, 
"but  unfortunately  it  does  not!     Who  is  Halcyone?" 

"  I  live  at  La  Sarthe  Chase  with  the  Aunts  La 
Sarthe,"  she  said  proudly,  as  though  La  Sarthe  Chase 
had  been  Windsor  Castle  — "  and  I  have  been  accus- 
tomed to  play  in  this  garden.  I  don't  like  your  being 
here  much." 

"  I  am  sorry  for  that,  because  it  suits  me  and  I  have 
bought  it.  But  how  would  it  be  if  I  said  you  might 
come  into  the  garden  still  and  play?  Would  you  for- 
give me  then  for  being  here  ?  " 

o 


HALCYONE 

"  I  might,"  said  Halcyone.  "  What  are  all  these 
books  for?  " 

"  They  are  to  read." 

"  I  knew  that  — "  and  she  frowned,  beetling  her  del- 
icate dark  brows,  "  but  why  such  a  lot  ?  You  can  never 
read  them  all." 

The  old  man  smiled. 

"  I  have  read  most  of  them  already,"  he  said.  "  I 
have  had  plenty  of  time,  you  see." 

"  Yes,  I  dare  say  you  are  old,"  said  Halcyone  — 
"  and  what  are  they  about  ?  I  would  like  to  know  that. 
My  books  so  seldom  interest  me." 

He  handed  her  one  through  the  window,  but  it  was 
written  in  Greek  and  she  could  not  read  it.  She 
frowned  again  as  she  turned  over  the  pages. 

"  Perhaps  there  is  something  nice  in  that,"  she  said. 

"  Possibly." 

"  Well,  won't  you  tell  me  what  ?  " 

"  That  would  take  a  long  time  —  suppose  you  come 
in  and  have  tea  with  me,  then  we  could  talk  comfort- 
ably." 

"  That  sounds  a  good  plan,"  she  said,  gravely. 
"  Shall  I  climb  through  the  window  —  I  can  quite  eas- 
ily —  or  would  you  like  me  to  go  round  by  the  door  ?  " 

"  The  window  will  serve,"  said  the  old  man. 

And  with  one  bound  as  light  as  a  young  kid,  Halcyone 
was  in  the  room. 

There  was  a  second  armchair  beyond  the  pile  of 
books,  and  into  that  she  nestled,  crossing  her  knees  and 
clasping  her  hands  round  them. 


HALCYONE 

"  Now  we  can  begin,"  she  said. 

"  Tea  or  talk?  "  asked  the  old  man. 

"  Why,  talk,  of  course ;  there  is  no  tea  — ' 

"  But  if  you  rang  that  bell  some  might  come. 

Haley  one  jumped  up  again  and  looked  about  for  the 
bell.  She  was  not  going  to  ask  where  it  was  —  she  dis- 
liked stupid  people  herself.  The  old  man  watched  her 
from  under  the  penthouse  of  his  eyebrows  with  a  cu- 
rious smile. 

The  bell  was  hidden  in  the  carving  of  the  mantel- 
piece, but  she  found  it  at  last  and  gave  it  a  lusty  pull. 

It  seemed  answered  instantaneously  by  a  strange-look- 
ing man, —  a  dark,  extremely  thin  person  with  black, 
dull  eyes. 

The  old  man  spoke  to  him  in  an  unknown  language 
and  he  retired  silently. 

"  Who  was  that?  "  asked  Haley  one. 

"  That  is  my  servant, —  he  will  bring  tea." 

"  He  is  not  English?  " 

"  No  —  does  that  matter?  " 

"  Of  course  not  —  but  what  country  does  he  come 
from?" 

"  You  must  ask  him  someday." 

"  I  want  to  see  countries,"  and  she  stretched  out  her 
slender  arms,  "  I  want  to  fly  away  outside  the  park  and 
see  the  world." 

"  You  have  time,"  said  the  old  man. 

"  When  I  am  big  enough  I  shall  run  away  —  I  get 
very  tired  of  only  the  Aunts  La  Sarthe.  They  never 
understand  a  word  I  say." 

4 


HALCYONE 

"  What  do  you  say  ?  " 

"  I  want  to  say  all  sorts  of  things,  but  if  it  isn't  what 
they  have  heard  a  hundred  times  before,  they  look 
shocked  and  pained." 

"  You  must  come  and  say  them  to  me  then,  perhaps  I 
might  understand,  and  in  any  case  I  should  not  be 
shocked  or  pained." 

"  They  remind  me  of  the  Three  Gray  Sisters,  although 
there  are  only  two  of  them  —  one  eye  and  one  tooth  be- 
tween them." 

"  I  see  —  there  is  something  we  can  talk  about  at  all 
events,"  said  the  old  man.  "  The  Three  Gray  Sisters 
are  friends  of  yours  —  are  they  ?  " 

"  Not  friends ! "  Halcyone  exclaimed  emphatically. 
"  I  can't  bear  them,  silly  old  things  nodding  there,  with 
their  ridiculous  answers  to  Perseus,  saying  old  things 
were  better  than  new  —  and  their  day  better  than  his  — 
I  should  have  thrown  their  eye  into  the  sea  if  I  had  been 
he.  Do  all  old  people  do  that?  —  pretend  their  time 
was  the  best  ?  —  do  you  ?     I  don't  mean  to." 

"  You  are  right.     It  is  a  bad  habit." 

"But  are  they  better,  the  old  things?" 

The  old  man  did  not  answer  for  a  moment  or  two. 
He  looked  his  visitor  through  and  through  with  his  wise 
gray  eyes  —  an  investigation  which  might  have  discon- 
certed some  people,  but  Halcyone  was  unabashed. 

"  I  know  what  you  are  doing,"  she  said.  "  You  are 
seeing  the  other  side  of  my  head  —  and  I  wish  I  could 
see  the  other  side  of  yours,  I  can  the  Aunts'  La  Sarthe 
and  Priscilla's,  in  a  minute,  but  yours  is  different." 

5 


II  ALCYONE 


<« 


I  am  glad  of  that  —  }rou  might  be  disappointed, 
though,  if  you  did  sec  what  was  there." 

u  I  always  want  to  see,"  she  said  simply  — "  see  ev- 
erything; and  sometimes  I  find  the  other  side  not  a  bit 
what  this  is  —  even  in  the  birds  and  trees  and  the  bee- 
tles.     But  you  must  have  a  huge  big  one." 

The  old  man  laughed. 

"  You  and  I  are  going  to  be  good  acquaintances,"  he 
said.  "  Tell  me  some  more  of  Perseus.  What  more  do 
you  know  of  him?  " 

"  I  have  only  read  *  The  Heroes,' "  Halcyone  ad- 
mitted, "  but  I  know  it  by  heart  —  and  I  know  it  is  all 
true  though  my  governess  says  it  is  fairy-tales  and  not 
for  girls.     I  want  to  learn  Greek,  but  they  can't  teach 


me." 


"  That  is  too  bad." 

"  When  things  are  put  vaguely  I  always  want  to  know 
them  —  I   want   to  know   why   Medusa   turned   into   a 
i^on?     What  was  her  sin?  " 

The  old  man   smiled. 

"  I  see,"  said  Halcyone,  "  you  won't  tell  me,  but  some 
day  I  >liall  know." 

u  Ves,  some  day  you  shall  know,"  he  said. 

"  They  seem  such  great  people,  those  Greeks ;  they 
knew  everything  —  so  the  preface  of  my  *  Heroes  '  says, 
and  I  want  to  learn  the  things  they  knew  —  mathematics 
.and  geometry,  rather  —  and  especially  logic  and  meta- 
physics, because  I  want  to  know  the  meaning  of  words 
and  tin  art  of  reasoning,  and  above  everything  I  want 
t<»  know  about  my  own  thoughts  and  soul." 

6 


HALCYONE 


a 


You  strange  little  girl,"  said  the  old  man.     "  Have 
you  a  soul? " 

"  I  don't  know,  I  have  something  in  there,"  and  Hal- 
cyone  pointed  to  her  head  — "  and  it  talks  to  me  like 
another  voice,  and  when  I  am  alone  up  a  tree  away  from 
people,  and  all  is  beautiful,  it  seems  to  make  it  tight 
round  here, —  and  go  from  my  head  into  my  side,"  and 
she  placed  her  lean  brown  paw  over  her  heart. 

"  Yes  —  you  perhaps  have  a  soul,"  said  the  old 
man,  and  then  he  added,  half  to  himself  —  "  What  a 
pity." 

"  Why  a  pity  ?  "  demanded  Halcyone. 

"  Because  a  woman  with  a  soul  suffers,  and  brings 
tribulation  —  but  since  you  have  one  we  may  as  well 
teach  you  how  to  keep  the  thing  in  hand." 

At  that  moment,  the  dark  servant  brought  tea,  and 
the  fine  oriental  china  pleased  Halcyone  whose  percep- 
tions took  in  the  texture  of  every  single  thing  she  came 
in  contact  with. 

The  old  man  seemed  to  go  into  a  reverie,  he  was  quite 
silent  while  he  poured  out  the  tea,  forgetting  to  enquire 
her  tastes  as  to  cream  and  sugar  —  he  drank  his  black 
- —  and  handed  Halcyone  a  cup  of  the  same. 

She  looked  at  him,  her  inquiring  eyes  full  of  intelli- 
gence and  understanding,  and  she  realized  at  once  that 
these  trifles  were  not  in  his  consideration  for  the  mo- 
ment. So  she  helped  herself  to  what  she  wanted  and 
sat  down  again  in  her  armchair.  She  did  not  even  rat- 
tle her  teaspoon.  Priscilla  often  made  noises  which  ir- 
ritated her  when  she  was  thinking. 
2  7 


HALCYONE 

The  old  man  came  back  to  a  remembrance  of  her 
presence  at  last. 

"  Little  girl,"  he  said  — "  would  you  like  to  come  here 
pretty  often  and  learn  Greek,  and  about  the  Greeks?  " 

Haley  one  bounded  from  her  chair  with  joy. 

"  But  of  course  I  would !  "  she  said.  "  And  I  am  not 
stupid  —  not  really  stupid  Mademoiselle  says,  when  I 
want  to  learn  things." 

"  No  —  I  dare  say  you  are  not  stupid,"  the  old  man 
said.  "  So  it  is  a  bargain  then ;  I  shall  teach  you  about 
my  friends  the  Greeks,  and  you  shall  teach  me  about  the 
green  trees,  and  your  friends  the  rabbits  and  the  bee- 
tles." 

Then  those  instinctive  good  manners  of  Halcyone's 
came  uppermost,  inherited,  like  her  slender  shape  and 
balanced  head,  from  that  long  line  of  La  Sarthe 
ancestors,  and  she  thanked  the  old  man  with  a  quaint, 
courtly,  sweetly  pedantic  grace.  Then  she  got  up  to 
go  — 

"  I  like  being  here  —  and  may  I  come  again  to-mor- 
row ?  "  she  said  afterwards.  "  I  must  go  now  or  they 
will  be  disagreeable  and  perhaps  make  difficulties." 

The  old  man  watched  her  as  she  curtsied  to  him  and 
vaulted  through  the  window  again,  and  on  down  the 
path,  and  through  the  hole  in  the  paling,  without  once 
turning  round.     Then  he  muttered  to  himself: 

"  A  woman  thing  who  refrains  from  looking  back !  — 
Yes,  I  fear  she  has  a  soul." 

Then  he  returned  to  his  pipe  and  his  Aristotle. 


8 


CHAPTER  II 

E* ALCYONE  struck  straight  across  the  park  un- 
|  til  she  came  to  the  beech  avenue,  near  the  top, 
j  which  ran  south.  The  place  had  been  nobly 
planned  by  that  grim  old  La  Sarthe  who  raised  it  in  the 
days  of  seventh  Henry.  It  stood  very  high  with  its 
terraced  garden  in  the  center  of  four  splendid  avenues 
of  oak,  lime,  beech  and  Spanish  chestnut  running  east, 
west,  north  and  south.  And  four  gates  in  different 
stages  of  dilapidation  gave  entrance  through  a  broken 
wall  of  stone  to  a  circular  drive  which  connected  all  the 
avenues  giving  access  to  the  house,  a  battered,  irregular 
erection  of  gray  stone. 

To  reach  the  splendid  front  door  you  entered  from 
the  oak  avenue  and  crossed  the  pleasance,  now  only  an 
overgrown  meadow  where  the  one  cow  grazed  in  the 
summer. 

Then  you  were  obliged  to  mount  three  stately  flights 
of  stone  steps  until  you  reached  the  first  terrace,  which 
was  flagged  near  the  house  and  bordered  with  stiff 
flower-beds.  Here  you  might  turn  and  look  back  due 
west  upon  a  view  of  exquisite  beauty  —  an  undulating 
fertile  country  beneath,  and  then  in  the  far  distance  a 
line  of  dim  blue  hills. 

But  if  you  chanced  to  wish  to  enter  your  carriage 

9 


H  A  L  C  Y  O  N  E 

unwetted  on  a  rainy  day,  you  were  obliged  to  deny  your- 
self the  pleasure  of  passing  through  the  entrance  hall 
in  state,  and  to  go  out  at  the  back  by  stone  passages  into 
the  courtyard  where  the  circular  avenue  came  up  close 
to  a  fortified  door,  under  the  arch  of  which  you  could 
drive. 

Everything  spoke  of  past  grandeur  and  present  de- 
cay —  only  the  flower-beds  of  the  highest  terrace  ap- 
peared even  partly  cultivated;  the  two  lower  ones  were 
a  wild  riot  of  weeds  and  straggling  rose  trees  unpruned 
and  untrained,  and  if  you  looked  up  at  the  windows  in 
the  southern  wing  of  the  house,  you  saw  that  several 
panes  in  them  were  missing  and  that  the  holes  had  been 
stuffed  with  rags. 

At  this  time  of  the  year  the  beech  avenue  presented 
an  indescribably  lovely  sight  of  just  opening  leaves  of 
tender  green.  It  was  a  never-failing  joy  to  Haley  one. 
She  walked  the  few  paces  which  separated  her  from  it 
and  turning,  stood  leaning  against  the  broken  gate  now, 
drinking  in  every  tone  of  the  patches  the  lowered  sun 
made  of  gold  between  the  green.  For  her  it  was  full 
of  wood  nymphs  and  elves.  It  did  not  contain  gods  and 
goddesses  like  the  others.  She  told  herself  long  stories 
about  them. 

The  beech  avenue  was  her  favorite  for  the  spring, 
the  lime  for  the  summer,  the  chestnut  for  the  autumn, 
and  the  oak  for  the  winter.  She  knew  every  tree  in  all 
four,  as  a  huntsman  knows  his  hounds.  And  when,  in 
the  great  equinoctial  storm  of  the  previous  year,  three 
giant   oaks    lay    shattered    and   broken,    the   sight   had 

10 


HALCYONE 

caused  her  deep  grief,  until  she  wove  a  legend  about 
them  and  turned  them  into  monsters  for  Perseus  to  sub- 
due with  Medusa's  head.  One,  indeed,  whose  trunk  was 
gnarled  and  twisted,  became  the  serpent  of  the  brazen 
scales  who  sleepeth  not,  guarding  the  Golden  Fleece. 

"  As  the  tree  falls  so  shall  it  lie,"  seemed  to  be  the 
motto  of  La  Sarthe  Chase.     For  none  were  removed. 

Halcyone  stretched  out  her  arms  and  beckoned  to  her 
fairy  friends. 

"  Queen  Mab,"  she  called,  "  come  and  dance  nearer 
to  me  —  I  can  see  your  wings  and  I  want  to  talk  to  you 
to-day !  " 

And  as  if  in  answer  to  this  invitation,  the  rays  of 
the  lowered  sun  shifted  to  an  opening  almost  at  her 
feet,  and  with  a  cry  of  joy  the  child  began  to  dance  in 
the  gorgeous  light. 

"  Come  follow,  follow  me,  ye  fairy  elves  that  be," 
she  sang  softly. 

And  the  sprites  laughed  with  gladness,  and  gilded  her 
mouse  hair  with  gold,  and  lit  up  her  eyes,  and  wove 
scarves  about  her  with  gossamer  threads,  and  beneath  her 
feet  tall  bluebells  offered  their  heads  as  a  carpet. 

But  Halcyone  sprang  over  them,  she  would  not  have 
crushed  the  meanest  weed. 

"  Queen  Mab ! "  she  said  at  last,  as  she  sat  down  in 
the  middle  of  the  sunlight,  "  I  have  found  an  old  gentle- 
man —  and  he  is  Cheiron,  and  if  one  could  see  it  in  the 
right  light,  he  may  have  a  horse's  body,  and  he  is  going 
to  teach  me  just  what  Jason  learnt —  and  then  I  shall 
tell  it  to  you." 

11 


H  A  L  C  Y  0  X  E 

The  rays  shifted  again  to  a  path  beyond,  and  Haley- 
one  bounded  up  and  went  on  her  way. 

Old  William  was  drawing  the  elder  Miss  La  Sarthe 
in  a  dilapidated  basket-chair,  up  and  down  on  the  high- 
est terrace.  She  held  a  minute  faded  pink  silk  parasol 
over  her  head  —  it  had  an  ivory  handle  which  folded  up 
when  she  no  longer  needed  the  parasol  as  a  shade.  She 
wore  one-buttoned  gloves,  of  slate-colored  kid,  and  a 
wrist-band  of  black  velvet  clasped  with  a  buckle.  An 
inverted  cake-tin  of  weather-beaten  straw,  trimmed  with 
rusty  velvet,  shadowed  her  old,  tired  eyes;  an  Indian 
shawl  was  crossed  upon  her  thin  bosom. 

"  Halcyone !  "  she  called  querulously.  "  Where 
have  you  been,  child?  You  must  have  missed  your 
tea." 

And  Halcyone  answered: 

"  In  the  orchard." 

For  of  what  use  to  inform  Aunt  Ginevra  about  that 
enchanting  visit  to  Cheiron !  Aunt  Ginevra  who  knew 
not  of  such  beings ! 

"  The  orchard's  let,"  grunted  old  William  — "  they 
do  say  it's  sold  — " 

"  I  had  rather  not  hear  of  it,  William,"  said  Miss 
La  Sarthe  frowning.  "  It  does  not  concern  one  what 
occurs  beyond  one's  gates." 

Old  William  growled  gently,  and  continued  his  labori- 
ous task — one  of  the  wheels  squeaked  as  it  turned  on  the 
flags. 

"  Aunt  Ginevra,  you  must  have  that  oiled,"  said  Hal- 
cyone, as   she  screwed  up  her  face.     "  How  can  you 

12 


HALCYONE 

bear  it?     You  can't  see  the  lovely  spring  things,  with 
that  noise." 

"  One  does  not  see  with  one's  ears,  Halcyone,"  quav- 
ered Miss  La  Sarthe.     "  Take  me  in  now,  William." 

"  And  she  can't  even  see  them  with  her  eyes  —  poor 
Aunt  Ginevra !  "  Halcyone  said  to  herself,  as  she  walked 
respectfully  by  the  chair  until  it  passed  the  front  door 
on  its  way  to  the  side.  Then  she  bounded  up  the  steps 
and  through  the  paneled,  desolate  hall,  taking  joy  in 
climbing  the  dog-gates  at  the  turn  of  the  stairs,  which 
she  could  easily  have  opened  —  and  she  did  not  pause 
until  she  reached  her  own  room  in  the  battered  south 
wing,  and  was  soon  curled  up  in  the  broad  window  sill, 
her  hands  clasped  round  her  knees. 

For  this  was  a  wonderful  thing  which  had  come  into 
her  life  —  She  had  met  someone  who  could  see  the  other 
side  of  her  head!  Henceforth  there  would  be  a  human 
voice,  not  only  a  fairy's,  to  converse  with  her.  Indeed, 
the  world  was  a  very  fair  place ! 

Here,  Priscilla  found  her  when  it  was  growing  dark, 
still  with  the  rapt  expression  of  glad  thought  on  her 
face.  And  the  elderly  woman  shook  her  head.  "  That 
child  is  not  canny,"  she  muttered,  while  aloud  she  chided 
her  for  idleness  and  untidiness  in  having  thrown  her  cap 
on  the  floor. 

But  Halcyone  flung  her  arms  round  Priscilla's  neck 
and  laughed  in  her  beard. 

"  Oh,  you  dear  old  goosie !  I  have  been  with  the 
Immortals  on  the  blue  peaks  of  Olympus  and  there 
we  did  not  wear  caps !  " 

13 


HALCYONE 

"  Them  Immortals ! "  said  Priscilla.  "  Better  far 
you  were  attending  to  things  you  can  see.  They'll  be 
coming  down  and  carrying  you  off,  some  of  these  fine 
nights ! " 

"  The  Immortals  don't  care  so  much  about  the  nights, 
Priscilla  —  unless  Artemis  is  abroad  —  she  does  —  but 
the  others  like  the  sunlight  and  great  white  clouds  and 
a  still  blue  sky.  I  am  quite  safe  — "  and  Halcyone 
smiled. 

Priscilla  began  tidying  up. 

"  Ma'm'selle's  wrote  to  the  mistresses  to  say  she  won't 
come  back,  she  can't  put  up  with  the  place  any  longer." 

This  sounded  too  good  to  be  true!  Another  govern- 
ess going!  Surely  they  would  see  it  was  no  use  asking 
any  more  to  come  to  La  Sarthe  Chase  —  Halcyone  had 
never  had  one  who  could  appreciate  its  beauties.  Gov- 
ernesses to  her  were  poor-spirited  creatures  afraid  of 
rats,  and  the  dark  passages  —  and  one  and  all  resentful 
of  the  rag-stuffed  panes  in  the  long  gallery.  Surely 
with  the  new-found  Cheiron  to  instruct  her  about  those 
divine  Greeks  a  fresh  governess  was  unnecessary. 

"  I  shall  ask  Aunt  Ginevra  to  implore  my  stepfather 
not  to  send  any  more.  We  don't  want  them,  do  we, 
Priscilla?" 

"  That  we  don't,  my  lamb !  "  agreed  Priscilla.  "  But 
you  must  learn  something  more  useful  than  gods  and 
goddesses.  Your  poor,  dear  mother  in  heaven  would 
break  her  heart  if  she  knew  you  were  going  to  be  brought 
up  ignorant." 

Halcyone  raised  her  head  haughtily. 

14 


HALCYONE 

"  I  shan't  be  ignorant  —  don't  be  afraid.  I  would 
not  remain  ignorant  even  if  no  other  governess  ever 
came  near  me.  I  can  read  by  myself,  and  the  dear  old 
gentleman  I  saw  to-day  will  direct  me."  And  then 
when  she  perceived  the  look  of  astonishment  on  Pris- 
cilla's  face :  "  Ah  !  That  is  a  secret  \  I  had  not  meant 
to  tell  you  —  but  I  will.  The  orchard  cottage  is  inhab- 
ited and  I've  seen  him,  and  he  is  Cheiron,  and  I  am 
going  to  learn  Greek !  " 

"  Bless  my  heart !  "  said  Priscilla.  "  Well,  now,  it  is 
long  past  seven  o'clock  and  you  must  dress  to  go  down 
to  dessert." 

And  all  the  time  she  was  putting  Halcyone  into  her 
too  short  white  frock,  and  brushing  her  mane  of  hair,  the 
child  kept  up  a  brisk  conversation.  Silent  for  hours  at 
a  time,  when  something  suddenly  interested  her  she  could 
be  loquacious  enough. 

One  candle  had  to  be  lit  before  her  toilet  was  com- 
pleted, and  then  at  half  past  seven  she  stole  down  the 
stairs,  full  of  shadows,  and  across  the  hall  to  the  great 
dining-room,  where  the  Misses  La  Sarthe  dined  in  state 
at  seven  o'clock,  off  some  thin  soup  and  one  other  dish, 
so  that  at  half  past  seven  the  cloth  had  been  cleared 
away  by  old  William  (in  a  black  evening  coat  now  and 
rather  a  high  stock),  and  the  shining  mahogany  table 
reflected  the  two  candles  in  their  superb  old  silver  can- 
dlesticks. 

At  this  stage,  as  Halcyone  entered  the  room,  it  was 
customary  for  William  to  place  the  dish  of  apples  on  the 
table  in  front  of  Miss  La  Sarthe,  and  the  dish  of  almonds 

15 


HALCYONE 

and  raisins  in  front  of  Miss  Roberta.  The  dessert  did 
not  vary  much  for  months  —  from  October  to  late  June 
it  was  the  same;  and  only  on  Sundays  was  the  almond 
and  raisin  dish  allowed  to  be  partaken  of,  but  an  apple 
was  divided  into  four  quarters,  after  being  carefully 
peeled  by  Miss  La  Sarthe,  each  evening,  and  Miss  Ro- 
berta was  given  two  quarters  and  Halcyone  one,  while 
the  eldest  lady  nibbled  at  the  remaining  piece  herself. 

In  her  day,  children  had  always  come  down  to  dessert, 
and  had  had  to  be  good  and  not  greedy,  or  the  fate  of 
Miss  Augusta  Noble  of  that  estimable  book,  "  The  Fair- 
child  Family,"  would  certainly  fall  upon  them.  Halcy- 
one, from  her  earliest  memory,  had  come  down  to  dessert 
every  night  —  except  at  one  or  two  pleasant  moments 
when  the  measles  or  a  bad  cold  had  kept  her  in  bed. 
Half  past  seven  o'clock,  summer  and  winter,  had  meant 
for  her  the  quarter  of  an  apple,  two  or  three  straw- 
berries or  a  plum  —  and  almost  always  the  same  conver- 
sation. 

Miss  La  Sarthe  sat  at  the  head  of  the  table,  in  a  green 
silk  dress  cut  low  upon  the  shoulders  and  trimmed  with 
a  bertha  of  blonde  lace.  Miss  Roberta  —  sad  falling 
off  from  dignity  —  had  her  thin  bones  covered  with  a 
habit  shirt  of  tulle,  because  she  was  altogether  a  poorer 
creature  than  her  sister,  and  felt  the  cold  badly.  Both 
ladies  wore  ringlets  at  the  sides  of  their  faces  and  little 
caps  of  ribbon  and  lace. 

Even  within  Halcyone's  memory,  the  dining-room  had 
lost  some  of  its  adornments.  The  Chippendale  chairs 
had  gone,  and  had  been  replaced  by  four  stout  kitchen 

16 


HALCYONE 

ones.  The  bits  of  rare  china  were  fewer  —  but  the  por- 
trait of  the  famous  Timothy  La  Sarthe,  by  Holbein,  still 
frowned  from  his  place  of  honor  above  the  chimney- 
piece.  All  the  La  Sarthes  had  been  christened  Timothy 
since  that  time. 

The  affair  of  the  governess  seemed  to  be  troubling 
Miss  Roberta.  At  intervals  she  had  found  comfort  in 
these  denizens  of  the  outer  world,  and,  free  from  the 
stem  eye  of  Sister  Ginevra,  had  been  wont  to  chat  with 
one  and  another.  They  never  stayed  long  enough  for 
her  to  know  them  well,  and  now  this  lady  —  the  fifth 
within  two  years  —  had  refused  to  return.  Life  seemed 
very  dull. 

"  Need  I  have  any  more  governesses,  Aunt  Ginevra?  " 
Halcyone  said.  "  There  is  an  old  gentleman  who  has 
bought  the  orchard  house  and  he  says  he  will  teach  me 
Greek  —  and  I  already  know  a  number  of  other  tire- 
some things." 

Halcyone  had  not  meant  to  tell  her  aunts  anything 
about  Cheiron  —  this  new-found  joy  —  but  she  reasoned 
after  she  heard  of  Mademoiselle's  non-return  that  the 
knowledge  that  she  would  have  some  instructor  might 
have  weight  with  those  in  charge  of  her.  It  was  worth 
risking  at  all  events. 

Miss  La  Sarthe  adjusted  a  gold  pince-nez  and  looked 
at  the  little  girl. 

"  How  old  are  you,  Halcyone  ?  "  she  asked. 

"  I  was  twelve  on  the  seventh  of  last  October,  Aunt 
Ginevra." 

"  Twelve  —  a  young  gentlewoman's  education  is  not 

17 


HALCYONE 

complete  at  twelve  years  old,  child  —  although  govern- 
esses in  the  house  are  not  very  pleasant,  I  admit " — 
and  Miss  La  Sarthe  sighed. 

"  Oh,  I  know  it  isn't !  "  said  Halcyone,  "  but  you 
see,  I  can  speak  French  and  German  quite  decently,  and 
the  other  things  surely  I  might  learn  myself  in  between 
the  old  gentleman's  teaching." 

"But  what  do  you  know  of  this  —  this  stranger?" 
demanded  Miss  La  Sarthe.  "  You  allude  to  someone 
of  whom  neither  your  Aunt  Roberta  nor  I  have  ever 
heard." 

"  I  met  him  to-day.  I  went  into  the  orchard  as  usual, 
and  found  the  house  was  inhabited,  and  I  saw  him  and 
he  asked  me  in  to  tea.  He  is  a  very  old  gentleman  with 
a  long  white  beard,  and  very,  very  clever.  His  room 
is  full  of  Greek  books  and  we  had  a  long  talk,  and  he  was 
very  kind  and  said  he  would  teach  me  to  read  them." 

This  seemed  to  Halcyone  to  be  sufficient  in  the  way  of 
credentials  for  anyone. 

"  I  have  heard  from  Hester,"  Miss  Roberta  interposed 
timidly,  "  that  the  orchard  house  has  been  bought  by 
an  Oxford  professor  —  it  sounds  most  respectable,  does 
it  not,  sister?  " 

Miss  La  Sarthe  looked  stern : 

"  More  than  thirty-five  years  ago,  Roberta,  I  told  you 
I  disapproved  of  Hester's  chattering.  I  cannot  con- 
ceive personally,  how  you  can  converse  with  servants  as 
you  do.     Hester  would  not  have  dared  to  gossip  to  me !  " 

Poor  Miss  Roberta  looked  crushed.  She  had  often 
been  chided  on  this  point  before. 

18 


HALCYONE 

Halcyone  would  like  to  have  reminded  her  elder  aunt 
that  William,  who  was  equally  a  servant,  had  announced 
some  such  news  to  her  that  afternoon ;  but  she  remained 
silent.  She  must  gain  her  point  if  she  could,  and  to 
argue,  she  knew,  was  never  a  road  to  success. 

;'  I  am  sure  if  we  could  get  a  really  nice  English  girl," 
hazarded  Miss  Roberta,  wishing  to  propitiate,  "  it  might 
be  company  for  us  all,  Ginevra  —  but  if  Mrs.  Anderton 
insists  upon  sending  another  foreign  person  — " 

"  And  of  course  she  will,"  interrupted  the  elder  lady ; 
"  people  of  Mrs.  Anderton's  class  always  think  it  is 
more  genteel  to  have  a  smattering  of  foreign  languages 
than  to  know  their  own  mother  tongue.  We  may  get 
another  German  —  and  that  I  could  hardly  bear." 

"  Then  do  write  to  my  stepfather,  please,  please," 
cried  Halcyone.  "  Say  I  am  going  to  be  splendidly 
taught  —  lots  of  interesting  things  —  and  oh  —  I  will 
try  so  hard  by  myself  to  keep  up  what  I  already  know. 
I  will  practice  —  really,  really,  Aunt  Ginevra  —  and  do 
my  German  exercises  and  dear  Aunt  Roberta  can  talk 
French  to  me  and  even  teach  me  the  Italian  songs  that  she 
sings  so  beautifully  to  her  guitar !  " 

This  last  won  the  day  as  far  as  Miss  Roberta  was 
concerned.  Her  faded  cheeks  flushed  pink.  The  trill- 
ing Italian  love-songs,  learnt  some  fifty  years  ago  dur- 
ing a  two  years'  residence  in  Florence,  had  always  been 
her  pride  and  joy.  So  she  warmly  seconded  her  niece's 
pleadings,  and  the  momentous  decision  was  come  to  that 
James  Anderton  should  be  approached  upon  the  sub- 
ject.    If  the  child  learned  Greek  —  from  a  professor  — 

19 


HALCYONE 

and  could  pick  up  a  few  of  Roberta's  songs  as  an  ac- 
complishment, she  might  do  well  enough and  a  gov- 
erness in  the  house,  in  spite  of  the  money  paid  by  Mr. 
Anderton  to  keep  her,  was  a  continual  gall  and  worry 
to  them. 

Halcyone  knew  very  little  about  her  stepfather.  She 
was  aware  that  he  had  married  her  mother  when  she  was 
a  very  poor  and  sorrowful  young  widow,  that  she  had 
had  two  stepsisters  and  a  brother  very  close  together, 
and  then  that  the  pretty  mother  had  died.  There  was 
evidently  something  so  sad  connected  with  the  whole 
story  that  Priscilla  never  cared  much  to  talk  about  it. 
It  was  always,  "  your  poor  sainted  mother  in  heaven," 
or,  "  your  blessed  pretty  mother  " —  and  with  that  in- 
stinctive knowledge  of  the  feelings  of  other  people  which 
characterized  Halcyone's  point  of  view,  she  had  avoided 
questioning  her  old  nurse.  Her  stepfather,  James  Ander- 
ton, was  a  very  wealthy  stockbroker  —  she  knew  that,  and 
also  that  a  year  or  so  after  her  mother's  death  he  had  mar- 
ried again  — "  a  person  of  his  own  class,"  Miss  La  Sarthe 
had  said,  "  far  more  suitable  to  him  than  poor  Elaine." 

Halcyone  had  only  been  six  years  old  at  her  mother's 
death,  but  she  kept  a  crisp  memory  of  the  horror  of  it. 
The  crimson,  crumpled-looking  baby  brother,  in  his  long 
clothes,  whose  coming  somehow  seemed  responsible  for 
the  loss  of  her  tender  angel,  for  a  long  time  was  viewed 
with  resentful  hatred.  It  was  a  terrible,  unspeakable 
grief.  She  remembered  perfectly  the  helpless  sense  of 
loss  and  loneliness. 

Her  mother  had  loved  her  with  passionate  devotion. 

20 


HALCYONE 

She  was  conscious  even  then  that  Mabel  and  Ethel,  the 
stepsisters,  were  as  nothing  in  comparison  to  herself  in 
her  mother's  regard.  She  had  a  certainty  that  her 
mother  had  loved  her  own  father  very  much  —  the 
young,  brilliant,  spendthrift,  last  La  Sarthe.  And  her 
mother  had  been  of  the  family,  too  —  a  distant  cousin. 
So  she  herself  was  La  Sarthe  to  her  finger  tips  —  slen- 
der and  pale  and  distinguished-looking.  She  remem- 
bered the  last  scene  with  her  stepfather  before  her  com- 
ing to  La  Sarthe  Chase.  It  was  the  culmination  after 
a  year  of  misery  and  unassuaged  grieving  for  her  loss. 
He  had  come  into  the  nursery  where  the  three  little  girls 
were  playing  —  Halcyone  and  her  two  stepsisters  —  and 
he  had  made  them  all  stand  up  in  his  rough  way,  and  see 
who  could  catch  the  pennies  the  best  that  he  threw  from 
the  door.  His  brother,  "  Uncle  Ted,"  was  with  him. 
And  the  two  younger  children,  Mabel  of  five  and  Ethel 
of  four,  shouted  riotously  with  glee  and  snatched  the 
coins  from  one  another  and  greedily  quarreled  over  those 
which  Halcyone  caught  with  her  superior  skill  and 
handed  to  them. 

She  remembered  her  stepfather's  face  —  it  grew 
heavy  and  sullen  and  he  walked  to  the  window,  where  his 
brother  followed  him  —  and  she  remembered  their  words 
and  had  pondered  over  them  often  since. 

"  It's  the  damned  breeding  in  the  brat  that  fairly 
gets  me  raw,  Ted,"  Mr.  Anderton  had  said.  "  Why 
the  devil  couldn't  Elaine  have  given  it  to  my  children, 
too.  I  can't  stand  it  —  a  home  must  be  found  for  her 
elsewhere." 

21 


HALCYONE 

And  soon  after  that,  Halcyone  had  come  with  her  own 
Priscilla  to  La  Sarthe  Chase  to  her  great-aunts  Ginevra 
and  Roberta,  in  their  tumble-down  mansion  which  her 
father  had  not  lived  to  inherit.  Under  family  arrange- 
ments, it  was  the  two  old  ladies'  property  for  their  lives. 

And  now  the  problem  of  what  James  Anderton  —  or 
rather  the  second  Mrs.  James  Anderton  —  would  do  was 
the  question  of  the  moment.  Would  there  be  a  fresh 
governess  or  would  they  all  be  left  in  peace  without 
one?  Mrs.  James  Anderton,  Miss  Roberta  had  said 
once,  was  a  person  who  "  did  her  duty,"  as  people  often 
did  "  in  her  class  " — "  a  most  worthy  woman,  if  not 
quite  a  lady  " —  and  she  had  striven  to  do  her  best  by 
James  Anderton's  children  —  even  his  stepchild  Halcy- 
one. 

Miss  La  Sarthe  promised  to  write  that  night  before 
she  went  to  bed  —  but  Halcyone  knew  it  was  a  long  proc- 
ess with  her  and  that  an  answer  could  not  be  expected 
for  at  least  a  week.  Therefore  there  was  no  good  agi- 
tating herself  too  soon  about  the  result.  It  was  one  of 
her  principles  never  to  worry  over  unnecessary  things. 
Life  was  full  of  blessed  certainties  to  enjoy  without 
spoiling  them  by  speculating  over  possible  unpleasant- 
nesses. 

The  old  gentleman  —  Cheiron  —  and  old  William  and 
the  timid  curate  who  came  to  dine  on  Saturday  nights 
once  a  month  were  about  the  only  male  creatures  Halcy- 
one had  ever  spoken  to  within  her  recollection  —  their 
rector  was  a  confirmed  invalid  and  lived  abroad  —  but 
Priscilla  had  a  supreme  contempt  for  them  as  a  sex. 

22 


HALCYONE 


.. 


One  and  all  set  on  themselves,  my  lamb,"  she  said; 
"  even  your  own  beautiful  father  had  to  be  bowed  down 
to  and  worshiped.  We  put  up  with  it  in  him,  of 
course ;  but  I  never  did  see  one  that  didn't  think  of  him- 
self first.  It  is  their  selfishness  that  causes  all  the  sor- 
row of  the  world  to  women.  We  needn't  have  lost  your 
angel  mother  but  for  Mr.  Anderton's  selfishness  —  a 
kind,  hard,   rough  man  —  but  as   selfish  as  a   gentle- 


man." 


It  seemed  a  more  excusable  defect  to  Priscilla  in  the 
upper  class,  but  had  no  redeeming  touch  in  the  status 
of  Mr.  Anderton. 

Halcyone,  however,  had  a  logical  mind  and  reasoned 
with  her  nurse: 

"  If  they  are  all  selfish,  Priscilla,  it  must  be  either 
women's  fault  for  letting  them  be,  or  God  intended  them 
to  be  so.  A  thing  can't  be  all  unless  the  big  force  makes 
it." 

This  "  big  force  " —  this  "  God  "  was  a  real  personal- 
ity to  Halcyone.  She  could  not  bear  it  when  in  church 
she  heard  the  meanest  acts  of  revenge  and  petty  wounded 
vanity  attributed  to  Him.  She  argued  it  was  because 
the  curate  did  not  know.  Having  come  from  a  town, 
he  could  not  be  speaking  of  the  same  wonderful  God 
she  knew  in  the  woods  and  fields  —  the  God  so  loving  and 
tender  in  the  springtime  to  the  budding  flowers,  so 
gorgeous  in  the  summer  and  autumn  and  so  pure  and 
cold  in  the  winter.  With  all  that  to  attend  to  He  could 
not  possibly  stoop  to  punish  ignorant  people  and  har- 
bor anger  and  wrath  against  them.  He  was  the  sun- 
3  23 


HABCYONE 

light  and  the  moonlight  and  the  starlight.  He  was  the 
voice  which  talked  in  the  night  and  made  her  never 
lonely. 

And  all  the  other  things  of  nature  and  the  universe 
were  gods,  also  —  lesser  ones  obeying  the  supreme  force 
and  somehow  fused  with  Him  in  a  whole,  being  part  of  a 
scheme  which  He  had  invented  to  complete  the  felicity  of 
the  world  He  had  created  —  not  beings  to  be  prayed  to  or 
solicited  for  favors,  but  just  gentle,  glorious,  sym- 
pathetic, invisible  friends.  She  was  very  much  inter- 
ested in  Christ ;  He  was  certainly  a  part  of  God,  too  — 
but  she  could  not  understand  about  His  dying  to  save 
the  world,  since  the  God  she  heard  of  in  the  church  was 
still  forever  punishing  and  torturing  human  beings,  or 
only  extending  mercy  after  His  vanity  had  been  flattered 
by  offerings  and  sacrifices. 

"  I  expect,"  she  said  to  herself,  coming  home  one 
Sunday  after  one  of  Mr.  Miller's  lengthy  discourses 
upon  God's  vengeance,  "  when  I  am  older  and  able  really 
to  understand  what  is  written  in  the  Bible  I  shall  find  it 
isn't  that  a  bit,  and  it  is  either  Mr.  Miller  can't  see 
straight  or  he  has  put  the  stops  all  in  the  wrong  places 
and  changed  the  sense.  In  any  case  I  shall  not  trouble 
now  —  the  God  who  kept  me  from  falling  through  the 
hole  in  the  loft  yesterday  by  that  ray  of  sunlight  to  show 
the  cracked  board,  is  the  one  I  am  fond  of." 

It  was  the  simple  and  logical  view  of  a  case  which  al- 
ways appealed  to  her. 

"  Halcyone  "  her  parents  had  called  her  well  —  their 
bond  of  love  —  their  tangible  proof  of  halcyon  days. 

24 


HALCYON E 

And  always  when  Halcyone  read  her  "  Heroes  "  she  felt 
it  was  her  beautiful  father  and  mother  who  were  the  real 
Halcyone  and  Ceyx,  and  she  longed  to  see  the  blue  sum- 
mer sea  and  the  pleasant  isles  of  Greece  that  she  might 
find  their  floating  nest  and  see  them  sail  away  happily  for 
ever  over  those  gentle  southern  waves. 


CHAPTER  III 

R.  CARL  YON  —  for  such  was  Cheiron's  real 
name  —  knocked  the  ashes  from  his  long  pipe 
next  day  at  eleven  o'clock  in  the  morning,  after 
his  late  breakfast  and  began  to  arrange  his  books.  His 
mind  was  away  in  a  land  of  classical  lore ;  he  had  almost 
forgotten  the  sprite  who  had  invaded  his  solitude  the 
previous  afternoon,  until  he  heard  a  tap  at  the  window, 
and  saw  her  standing  there  —  great,  intelligent  eyes 
aflame  and  rosy  lips  apart. 

"May  I  come  in,  please?"  her  voice  said.  "I  am 
afraid  I  am  a  little  early,  but  I  had  something  so  very 
interesting  to  tell  you,  I  had  to  come." 

He  opened  wide  the  window  and  let  in  the  May  sun- 
shine. 

"  The  first  of  May  and  a  May  Queen,"  he  told  her 
presently,  when  they  were  seated  in  their  two  chairs. 
"  And  now  begin  this  interesting  news." 

"  Aunt  Ginevra  has  promised  to  write  to  my  step- 
father at  once,  and  suggest  that  no  more  governesses 
are  sent  to  me.  Won't  it  be  perfectly  splendid  if  he 
agrees !  " 

"  I  really  don't  know,"  said  Cheiron. 

Haleyone's  face  fell. 

"  You  promised  to  teach  me  Greek,"  she  said  simply, 

26 


HALCYONE 

"  and  I  know  from  my  '  Heroes  '  that  is  all  that  I  need 
necessarily  learn  from  a^-one  to  acquire  the  other  things 
myself." 

This  seemed  to  Mr.  Carlyon  a  very  conclusive  an- 
swer —  his  bent  of  mind  found  it  logical. 

"  Very  well,"  he  said.     "  When  shall  we  begin  ?  " 

"  Perhaps  to-morrow.  To-day  if  you  have  time  I 
would  like  to  take  you  for  a  walk  in  the  park  —  and 
show  you  some  of  the  trees.  The  beeches  are  coming  out 
very  early  this  year ;  they  have  the  most  exquisite  green 
just  showing,  and  the  chestnuts  in  some  places  have 
quite  large  leaves.  It  is  damp  under  foot,  though  —  do 
you  mind  that  ?  " 

"  Not  a  bit,"  said  Cheiron. 

And  so  they  went,  creeping  through  the  hole  in  the 
paling  like  two  brigands  on  a  marauding  expedition. 

"  There  used  to  be  deer  when  I  first  came  five  years 
ago,"  Halcyone  said.  "  I  remember  them  quite  well, 
and  their  sweet  little  fawns ;  but  the  next  winter  was  that 
horribly  cold  one,  and  there  was  no  hay  to  be  put  out  to 
them  —  my  Aunts  La  Sarthe  are  very  poor  —  and  some 
of  them  died,  and  in  the  summer  the  Long  Man  came 
and  talked  and  talked,  and  Aunt  Roberta  had  red  eyes 
all  the  afternoon,  as  she  always  does  when  he  comes,  and 
Aunt  Ginevra  pretended  hers  were  a  cold  in  her  head  — 
and  the  week  after  a  lot  of  men  arrived  and  drove  all  the 
tender,  beautiful  creatures  into  corners,  and  took  them 
away  in  carts  with  nets  over  them  —  the  does  —  but  the 
bucks  had  pieces  of  wood  because  their  horns  would  have 
torn  the  nets." 

27 


HALCYONE 

Her  delicate  lips  quivered  a  moment,  as  though  at  a 
too  painful  memory  —  then  she  smiled. 

"  But  one  mother  doe  and  her  fawn  got  away  —  and 
I  knew  where  they  were  hiding,  but  I  did  not  tell,  of 
course  —  and  now  there  are  four  of  them,  or  perhaps 
five.  But  they  are  very  wild  and  keep  in  the  copses,  and 
fly  if  they  see  anyone  coming.  They  don't  mind  me,  of 
course,  but  strangers.  The  mother  remembers  that  aw- 
ful day,  I  expect." 

"  No  doubt,"  said  Cheiron ;  "  and  who  is  the  '  Long 
Man '  you  spoke  of  as  having  instigated  this  outrage  ?  " 

"  He  is  the  man  of  business,  he  was  the  bailiff 
once,  but  is  a  house  agent  now  in  Applewood.  And 
whenever  he  comes  something  has  to  go  —  we  all  dread 
it.  Last  Michaelmas  it  was  the  Chippendale  dining- 
room  chairs  — " 

"  I  know  him  then  —  I  bought  my  cottage  from  him. 
I  suppose  all  this  is  necessary,  because  he  seemed  an 
honest  fellow." 

"  Someone  long  ago  made  it  necessary  —  it  is  not 
the  Aunts'  fault  — "  and  then  Halcyone  stopped  ab- 
ruptly and  pointed  to  the  beech  avenue  which  they  were 
approaching  now  through  the  bracken,  brown  and  crisp 
from  last  year,  with  only  here  and  there  a  green  shoot 
showing. 

"  Queen  Mab  and  the  elves  live  there  in  May  and 
early  June,"  she  said.  "  They  dance  every  afternoon  as 
the  sun  sets,  and  sometimes  in  the  dawn,  too,  and  the  early 
morning.    You  can  see  them  if  you  keep  quite  still.' 

"  Naturally,"  said  Cheiron. 

£8 


» 


HALCYONE 

"  Do  you  know,  since  last  winter  I  have  had  a  great 
pleasure,"  and  Halcyone's  grave,  intent  eyes  looked  up 
into  the  old  gentleman's  face.  "  There  was  a  terrible 
storm  in  February  —  but  can  you  really  keep  a  secret?  " 

—  and  then,  as  he  nodded  his  head  seriously,  she  went 
on.  "  It  blew  down  a  narrow  piece  of  the  paneling  in 
the  long  gallery  —  it  is  next  to  my  room,  you  know 

—  and  I  heard  the  noise  in  the  night  and  lit  a  candle 
and  went  to  see.  Some  of  the  window  panes  are  broken, 
so  it  is  very  blustery  there  in  storms.  Well,  there  was  a 
door  behind  it  —  a  secret  door !  I  was  so  excited,  but 
I  could  not  keep  the  candle  alight  and  it  was  very  cold. 
I  saw  nothing  was  broken  —  only  the  wind  had  dis- 
lodged the  spring.  I  was  able  to  push  it  back  and 
pull  a  little  chest  against  it,  and  wait  till  morning.  And 
then  what  do  you  think  I  found?  —  it  led  to  a  staircase 
in  the  thickness  of  the  wall,  which  went  down  and  down 
until  it  came  to  a  door  right  below  the  cellar  —  it  took 
me  days  of  dodging  Mademoiselle  and  Priscilla  to  carry 
down  oil  and  things  to  help  me  to  open  it  —  and  then 
it  came  out  in  a  hollow  archway  on  the  second  terrace, 
which  has  a  stone  bench  in  it,  and  is  where  old  William 
keeps  his  tools.  It  is  so  cleverly  done  you  could  never 
see  it ;  it  looks  just  as  if  it  was  no  door,  but  was  only  there 
for  ornament.  You  may  fancy  I  never  told  anyone! 
It  is  my  secret  —  and  yours  now  —  and  it  enabled  me 
to  do  what  I  have  always  longed  to  do  —  go  out  in  the 
night !  " 

"  You  go  out  in  the  night  all  alone ! "  exclaimed 
Cheiron,  almost  aghast. 

29 


HALC YONE 


k 


But  of  course,"  said  Halcyone.  "  You  cannot 
think  of  the  j  o v  when  there  is  a  moon  and  stars ;  and 
some  of  the  night  creatures  are  such  friends  —  they 
teach  me  wonderful  things.  Only  the  dreadful  difficulty 
is  in  avoiding  Priscilla  —  she  sleeps  in  the  dressing-room 
next  me.  I  love  her  better  than  anyone  else  in  the  world, 
but  she  could  never  understand  —  she  would  only  worry 
about  the  wet  feet  and  clothes  being  spoilt.  I  always 
think  it  is  so  fortunate  though,  don't  you,  that  servants 
—  even  a  dear  like  Priscilla  —  sleep  so  soundly.  Aunt 
Ginevra  says  they  can't  help  it,  every  class  has  its  pe- 
culiarity." 

Mr.  Carlyon  was  extremely  interested  —  he  wanted  to 
hear  more  of  these  adventures. 

"  How  do  you  avoid  Priscilla  seeing  your  things  in 
the  morning  then?  "  he  asked. 

"  I  have  got  a  pair  of  big  gutta-percha  boots  —  they 
were  my  father's  waders  once,  and  I  found  them,  and 
have  hidden  them  in  one  of  the  chests,  and  I  tuck  every- 
thing into  them  —  so  there  are  no  marks.  It  is  en- 
chanting." 

"  And  do  you  often  have  these  nocturnal  outings,  you 
odd  little  girl?"  Cheiron  said,  wonderingly. 

"  Not  very.  I  have  to  be  so  careful,  you  see  —  and  I 
only  choose  moonlight  or  starlight  nights,  and  they  are 
rare  —  but  when  the  summer  comes  I  hope  to  enjoy 
many  more  of  them." 

Then  Mr.  Cartyon's  old  eyes  looked  away  into  distance 
and  seemed  to  see  a  slender  shape  wrapped  in  a  spotted 
fawn's  skin,  its  head  crowned  with  leaves,  joining  the 

30 


HALCYONE 

throng  of  those  other  early  worshipers  of  Dionysus  as 
they  beat  their  weird  music  among  the  dark  crags  of 
Parnassus  —  searching  for  communion  with  the  spiritual 
beyond  in  the  only  way  they  knew  of  then  to  reach  it, 
through  a  wild  ecstasy  of  emotion.  Here  was  the  same 
impulse,  unconscious,  instinctive.  The  probing  of  na- 
ture to  discover  her  secrets.  Here  was  a  female  thing 
with  a  soul  unafraid  in  her  pure  innocence,  alone  in  the 
night. 

Halcyone  did  not  interrupt  his  meditations,  and 
presently  they  came  to  the  broken  gate  close  to  the 
house. 

Cheiron  paused  and  leaned  on  the  top  bar. 

"  Is  this  the  elves'  home?  "  he  asked. 

"  Yes,"  she  answered  gravely.  "  But  so  late  in  the 
day  you  cannot  see  them.  You  must  wait  again  until 
the  sun  is  setting;  and  I  expect  when  it  is  warm  they 
come  in  the  moonlight,  too,  but  I  have  not  been  able  to 
get  a  fine  enough  night  —  as  yet.  This  avenue  is  the 
most  beautiful  of  all,  because  a  hundred  years  ago  the  La 
Sarthes  had  a  quarrel  with  the  Wendovers,  whose  land 
just  touches  at  the  end  of  it,  and  they  closed  the  gate, 
and  so  the  turf  has  covered  the  gravel.  And  look  at  the 
tree  —  you  can  see  the  fairy  ring  where  they  dance,  and 
I  always  fancy  they  sup  under  the  one  with  the  very  low 
branch  at  the  side  —  but  I  don't  believe  I  should  like 
'  marrow  of  mice,'  should  you  ?  " 

"  Not  at  all,"  said  Cheiron. 

Then  they  wandered  on.  Halcyone  led  him  to  each 
of  the  favorite  points  of  view,  and  he  became  acquainted 

31 


HALCYONE 

with  the  great  serpent,  and  so  vivid  was  her  picturing 
that  he  almost  fancied  he  saw  the  Golden  Fleece  nailed 
to  the  tree  beyond,  and  heard  Orpheus'  exquisite  melodies 
charming  the  reptile  to  sleep  while  Jason  stepped  over 
his  slumbering  coils. 

"  But  I  do  not  have  Medea  here,"  she  said ;  "  I  play 
her  part  myself,  and  I  make  her  different.  She  was  too 
cunning  and  had  wicked  thoughts  in  her  heart,  and  so 
the  poor  Heroes  suffered.  If  she  had  been  good  and 
true  and  had  not  killed  Absyrtus,  things  might  have  had 
a  different  ending.  I  never  like  to  think  of  Absyrtus 
in  any  case  —  because,  do  you  know,  I  once  hated  my 
baby  brother,  and  would  have  been  glad  if  anyone  had 
killed  him." 

Her  eyes  became  black  as  night  with  this  awful 
recollection.  "  It  was  very  long  ago,  you  under- 
stand —  when  I  was  quite  a  little  girl  before  I  knew  the 
wonderful  things  the  wind  and  the  flowers  and  the  stars 
tell  me." 

Cheiron  did  not  ask  the  cause  of  this  hate ;  he  reserved 
the  question  for  a  future  time,  and  encouraged  her  to 
tell  him  of  her  discoveries  in  wonderland. 

Some  trees  had  strange  personalities,  she  said.  You 
could  never  guess  the  other  side  of  their  heads,  until  you 
knew  them  very  well.  But  all  had  good  in  them,  and  it 
was  wisest  never  even  to  see  the  bad. 

"  I  always  find  if  you  are  afraid  of  things  they  be- 
come real  and  hurt  you,  but  if  you  are  sure  they  are 
kind  and  true  they  turn  gentle  and  love  you.  I  am 
hardly  ever  afraid  of  anything  now  —  only  I  do  not  like 

32 


HALCYONE 

a  thunderstorm.  It  seems  as  if  God  were  really  angry 
then,  and  were  not  considering  sufficiently  just  whom  He 
meant  to  hit." 

Justice  to  her  appeared  to  hold  chief  place  among  the 
virtues. 

"  Do  you  stay  here  all  the  year  round  ? "  asked 
Cheiron,  presently,  "  or  do  you  sometimes  have  a  trip 
to  the  seaside?  " 

"  I  have  never  been  away  since  I  first  came  —  I  would 
love  to  see  the  sea,"  and  her  eyes  became  dreary.  "  I 
can  just  remember  long  ago  with  my  mother,  we  went 
once  —  she  and  I  alone  — "  then  she  turned  to  her  old 
companion  and  looked  up  in  his  face. 

"  Had  you  a  mother  ?  Of  course  you  had,  but  I  mean 
one  that  you  knew?  " 

The  late  Mrs.  Carlyon  had  not  meant  anything  much 
to  her  son  in  her  lifetime,  and  was  now  a  far-off  memory 
of  forty  years  ago,  so  Cheiron  answered  truthfully  upon 
the  subject,  and  Halcyone  looked  grave. 

"  When  we  have  been  friends  for  a  long  time  I  will  tell 
you  of  my  beautiful  mother  —  and  I  could  let  you  share 
my  memory  of  her  perhaps  —  but  not  to-day,"  she 
said. 

And  then  she  was  silent  for  a  while  as  they  walked  on. 
But  when  they  were  turning  back  towards  the  orchard 
house  she  suddenly  began  to  laugh,  glancing  at  the  old 
gentleman  with  eyes  full  of  merriment. 

"  It  is  funny,"  she  said,  "  I  don't  even  know  your 
name !  I  would  like  to  call  you  Cheiron  —  but  you  have 
a  real  name,  of  course." 

33 


HALCYONE 


a 


It  is  Arnold  Carl  von,  and  I  come  from  Cornwall," 
the  old  gentleman  said,  "  but  you  are  welcome  to  call  me 
Cheiron,  if  you  like." 

Halcyone  thanked  him  prettily. 

"I  wish  you  had  his  body  —  don't  you?  How  we 
could  gallop  about,  could  we  not?  But  I  can  imagine 
you  have,  easily.  I  always  can  see  things  I  imagine, 
and  sometimes  they  become  realities  then." 

"  Heaven  forbid ! "  exclaimed  Cheiron.  "  What 
would  my  four  legs  and  my  hoofs  do  in  the  little  orchard 
house,  and  how  should  I  sit  in  my  armchair?  " 

Halcyone  pealed  with  merry  laughter;  her  laughs 
came  so  rarely  and  were  like  golden  bells.  The  comic 
side  of  the  picture  enchanted  her. 

;'  Of  course  it  would  only  do  if  we  lived  in  a  cave,  as 
the  real  Cheiron  did,"  she  admitted.  "  I  was  silly,  was 
not  I?" 

"  Yes,"  said  Mr.  Carlyon,  "  but  I  don't  think  I  mind 
your  being  so  —  it  is  nice  to  laugh." 

She  slipped  her  thin  little  hand  into  his  for  a  mo- 
ment, and  caught  hold  of  one  of  his  fingers. 

"  I  am  so  glad  you  understand  that,"  she  said. 
"  How  good  it  is  to  laugh !  That  is  what  the  birds  sing 
to  me,  it  is  no  use  ever  to  be  sad,  because  it  draws 
evil  and  fear  to  yourself,  and  even  in  the  winter  one 
must  know  there  is  always  the  beautiful  spring  soon 
coming.  Don't  you  think  God  is  full  of  love  for  this 
world?" 

"  I  am  sure  he  is." 

"  The  Aunts'  God  isn't  a  very  kind  person,"  she  went 

34 


HALCYONE 

on.     "  But  I  expect,  since  you  know  about  the  Greeks, 
yours  and  mine  are  the  same." 

"  Probably,"  said  Cheiron. 

Then,  being  assured  on  this  point,  Halcyone  felt  she 
could  almost  entrust  him  with  her  greatest  secret. 

"  Do  you  know,"  she  said,  in  the  gravest  voice,  "  I 
will  tell  you  something.  I  have  a  goddess,  too.  I  found 
her  in  the  secret  staircase.  She  is  broken,  even  her 
nose  a  little,  but  she  is  supremely  beautiful.  It  is  just 
her  head  I  have  got,  and  I  pretend  she  is  my  mother 
sometimes,  really  come  back  to  me  again.  We  have  long 
talks.  Some  day  I  will  show  her  to  you.  I  have  to 
keep  her  hidden,  because  Aunt  Ginevra  cannot  bear  rub- 
bish about,  and  as  she  is  broken  she  would  want  to  have 
her  thrown  away." 

"  I  shall  be  delighted  to  make  her  acquaintance. 
What  do  you  call  her?  " 

"  That  is  just  it,"  said  Halcyone.  "  When  I  first 
found  her  it  seemed  to  me  I  must  call  her  Pallas  Athene, 
because  of  that  noble  lady  in  Perseus  —  but  as  I  looked 
and  looked  I  knew  she  was  not  that ;  it  seems  she  cannot 
be  anything  else  but  just  Love  —  her  eyes  are  so  tender, 
she  has  many  moods,  and  they  are  not  often  the  same  — 
but  no  matter  how  she  looks  you  feel  all  the  time  just 
love,  love,  love  —  so  I  have  not  named  her  yet.  You 
remember  when  Orpheus  took  his  lyre  and  sang  after 
Cheiron  had  finished  his  song  —  it  was  of  Chaos  and  the 
making  of  the  world,  and  how  all  things  had  sprung  from 
Love  —  who  could  not  live  alone  in  the  Abyss.  So  I 
know  that  is  she  —  just  Love." 

35 


H ALCYONE 

"  Aphrodite,"  said  Cheiron. 

"  It  is  a  pretty  name.  If  that  is  what  it  means,  I 
would  call  her  that." 

"  It  will  do,"  said  Cheiron. 

"  Aphrodite  —  Aphrodite,"  she  repeated  it  over  and 
over.  "  It  must  mean  kind  and  tender,  and  soft  and 
sweet,  and  beautiful  and  glorious,  and  making  you  think 
of  noble  things,  and  making  you  feel  perfectly  happy 
and  warmed  and  comforted  and  blessed.     Is  it  all  that?  " 

"  It  could  be  —  and  more,"  said  Cheiron. 

"  Then  I  will  name  her  so." 

After  this  there  was  a  long  silence.  Mr.  Carlyon 
would  not  interrupt  what  was  evidently  a  serious  mo- 
ment to  his  little  friend.  He  waited,  and  then  presently 
he  turned  the  channel  of  her  thoughts  by  asking  her  if 
she  thought  he  might  call  on  her  Aunts  that  afternoon. 

Halcyone  hesitated  a  second. 

"  We  hardly  ever  have  visitors.  Aunt  Ginevra  has 
alwajs  said  one  must  not  receive  what  one  cannot  return, 
and  they  have  no  carriage  or  horses  now,  so  they  never 
see  anyone.  Aunt  Roberta  would,  but  Aunt  Ginevra 
does  not  let  her,  and  she  often  says  in  the  last  ten  years 
they  have  quite  dropped  out  of  everything.  I  do  not 
know  what  that  means  altogether,  because  I  do  not  know 
what  there  was  to  drop  out  of.  I  have  scarcely  ever 
been  beyond  the  park,  and  there  do  not  seem  to  be  any 
big  houses  for  miles  —  do  there?  —  except  Wendover, 
but  it  is  shut  up ;  it  has  been  for  twenty  years." 

"  Then  you  think  the  Misses  La  Sarthe  might  not 
receive  me?  " 

36 


HALCYONE 

"  You  could  try,  of  course.  You  have  not  a  carriage. 
If  you  just  walked  it  would  make  it  even.  Shall  I  tell 
them  you  are  coming?     I  had  better,  perhaps." 

"  Yes,  this  afternoon." 

And  if  Halcyone  had  known  it,  she  was  receiving  an 
unheard-of  compliment !  The  hermit  Carlyon  —  the 
old  Oxford  Professor  of  Greek,  who  had  come  to  this 
out-of-the-way  corner  because  he  had  been  assured  by 
the  agent  there  would  be  no  sort  of  society  around  him  — 
now  intended  to  put  on  a  tall  hat  and  frock  coat,  and 
make  a  formal  call  on  two  maiden  ladies  —  all  for  the 
sake  of  a  child  of  twelve  years,  with  serious  gray  eyes  — 
and  a  soul! 


CHAPTER  IV 

XN  her  heart  of  hearts  Miss  Roberta  felt  fluttered 
as  she  walked  across  the  empty  hall  to  the  Ital- 
ian parlor  behind  her  sterner  sister,  to  receive 
their  guest.  He  would  come  in  the  afternoon,  Halcyone 
had  said.  That  meant  about  three  o'clock,  and  it  be- 
hooved ladies  expecting  a  gentleman  to  be  at  ease  at  some 
pretty  fancy  work  when  he  should  be  announced. 

The  village  was  two  miles  beyond  the  lime  lodge  gates, 
and  for  the  last  eight  years  rheumatism  in  the  knee  had 
made  the  walk  there  out  of  the  question  for  poor  Miss 
Roberta  —  so  even  the  sight  of  a  man  and  a  stranger 
was  an  unusual  thing!  She  had  not  attempted  conver- 
sation with  anyone  but  Mr.  Miller,  the  curate,  for  over 
eleven  years.  The  isolation  in  which  the  inhabitants  of 
La  Sarthe  Chase  lived  could  not  be  more  complete. 

The  Italian  parlor  had  its  own  slightly  pathetic 
cachet.  The  walls  and  ceiKng  had  been  painted  by 
rather  a  bad  artist  from  Florence  at  the  beginning  of 
the  nineteenth  century,  but  the  furniture  was  good  of 
its  kind  —  a  strange  dark  orange  lacquer  and  gilt  — 
and  here  most  of  the  treasures  which  had  not  yet  been 
disposed  of  for  daily  bread,  were  hoarded  in  cabinets 
and  quaint  glass-topped  show  tables.  There  were  a 
number  of  other  priceless  things  about  the  house,  the 

38 


HALCYONE 

value  of  which  the  Long  Man's  artistic  education  was 
as  yet  too  unfinished  to  appreciate.  And  the  great- 
est treasure  of  all,  as  we  have  seen,  was  probably  only 
understood  by  Halcyone  —  but  more  of  that  in  its 
place. 

At  present  it  concerns  us  to  know  that  Miss  La  Sarthe 
and  her  sister  had  reached  the  Italian  parlor,  and  were 
seated  in  their  respective  chairs  —  Miss  Roberta  with 
a  piece  of  delicate  embroidery  in  her  hands,  the  stitches 
of  which  her  eyes  —  without  spectacles,  to  receive  com- 
pany —  were  too  weak  adequately  to  perceive. 

Miss  La  Sarthe  did  not  condescend  to  any  such  sub- 
terfuges. She  sat  quite  still  doing  nothing,  looking  very 
much  as  she  had  looked  for  the  last  forty  years.  Her 
harp  stood  on  one  side  of  the  fireplace,  and  Miss 
Roberta's  guitar  hung  by  a  faded  blue  ribbon  from  a 
nail  at  the  other. 

Presently  old  William  announced: 

"  Mr.  Carlyon." 

And  Cheiron,  in  his  Sunday  best,  walked  into  the  room. 

Halcyone  was  not  present.  If  children  were  wanted 
they  were  sent  for.  It  was  not  seemly  for  them  to  be 
idling  in  the  drawing-rooms. 

But  Miss  Roberta  felt  so  pleasantly  nervous,  that  she 
said  timidly,  after  they  had  all  shaken  hands : 

"  Ginevra,  can  we  not  tell  William  to  ask  Halcyone  to 
come  down,  perhaps  Mr.  Carlyon  might  like  to  see  her 
again." 

And  William,  who  had  not  got  far  from  the  door,  was 
recalled  and  sent  on  the  errand. 
4  39 


HALCYONE 


»» 


"  What  a  very  beautiful  view  you  have  from  here 
Mr.  Carlyon  said,  by  way  of  a  beginning.      "  It  is  an 
ideal  spot." 

"  We  are  glad  you  like  it,"  Miss  La  Sarthe  replied, 
graciously ;  "  as  my  sister  and  I  live  quite  retired  from 
the  world  it  suits  us.  We  had  much  gayety  here  in  our 
youth,  but  now  we  like  tranquillity." 

"  It  is,  however,  delightful  to  have  a  neighbor,"  Miss 
Roberta  exclaimed  —  and  then  blushed  at  her  temerity. 

The  elder  lady  frowned;  Roberta  had  always  been  so 
sadly  effusive,  she  felt.  Men  ought  not  to  be  flattered 
so. 

Mr.  Carlyon  bowed,  and  the  platitudes  were  continued, 
each  felt  he  or  she  must  approach  the  subject  of  Hal- 
cyone's  lessons,  but  waited  for  the  other  to  begin. 

Halcyone,  herself,  put  an  end  to  all  awkwardness  after 
she  very  gently  entered  the  room.  There  was  no  bound- 
ing or  vaulting  in  the  presence  of  the  aunts. 

"  Is  it  not  kind  of  Mr.  Carlyon  to  wish  to  teach  me 
Greek?  "  she  said,  including  both  her  relatives.  "  I  ex- 
pect he  has  told  you  about  it  though." 

The  Misses  La  Sarthe  were  properly  surprised  and 
interested.  Most  kind  they  thought  it  and  expressed 
their  appreciation  in  their  separate  ways.  They  both 
hoped  their  great-niece  would  be  diligent,  and  prove  a 
worthy  pupil.  It  was  most  fortunate  for  Halcyone,  be- 
cause her  stepfather,  Mr.  James  Anderton,  might  decide 
at  their  request  not  to  send  another  governess,  and,  "  No 
doubt  it  will  be  most  useful  to  her,"  Miss  La  Sarthe  con- 
tinued.    "  In  these  modern  days  so  much  learning  seems 

40 


HALCYONE 

to  be  expected  of  people.     When  we  were  young,  a  little 
French  and  Italian  were  all  that  was  necessary." 

Then  Mr.  Carlyon  made  friends  of  them  for  life,  by  a 
happy  inspiration. 

"  I  see  you  are  both  musicians,"  he  said,  pointing  to 
the  antiquated  musical  instruments.  "  A  taste  of  that 
sort  is  a  constant  pleasure." 

"  We  used  to  play  a  good  deal  at  one  time,"  admitted 
Miss  La  Sarthe,  without  a  too  great  show  of  gratifica- 
tion, "  and  my  sister  was  quite  celebrated  for  her  Italian 
songs." 

"  Oh !  "  gasped  Miss  Roberta,  blushing  again. 

"  I  hope  I  may  have  the  pleasure  of  hearing  you  to- 
gether some  day,"  said  the  Professor,  gallantly. 

Both  ladies  smilingly  acquiesced,  as  they  depreciated 
their  powers. 

And  just  before  their  visitor  got  up  to  leave,  Miss 
La  Sarthe  said  with  her  grand  air: 

"  We  hope  you  find  your  cottage  comfortable.  It 
used  to  be  the  land  steward's,  before  we  disposed  of 
the  property  we  no  longer  required.  It  always  used 
to  have  a  very  pretty  garden,  but  no  doubt  it  has  rather 
fallen  into  decay." 

"  I  shall  do  my  best  to  repair  it,"  Mr.  Carlyon  said, 
"  but  it  will  take  some  time.  I  and  my  servant  have 
already  begun  to  clear  the  weeds  away,  and  a  new  gar- 
dener is  coming  next  week." 

"  Oh,  may  I  help  ?  "  exclaimed  Halcyone.  "  I  love 
gardening,  and  can  dig  quite  well.  I  often  help 
William." 

41 


HALCYONE 

"  Our  old  butler  does  many  useful  things  for  us,"  Miss 
Roberta  explained,  with  a  slightly  conscious  air. 

And  then  the  adieus  were  said,  Halcyon's  first  lesson 
having  been  arranged  to  begin  on  the  morrow. 

When  the  visitor  had  gone  and  the  door  was  shut: 

"  A  very  worthy,  cultivated  gentleman,  Roberta," 
Miss  La  Sarthe  announced  to  her  sister.  "  We  must  ask 
him  to  dinner  the  next  time  Mr.  Miller  is  coming.  We 
must  show  him  some  attention  for  his  kindness  to  our 
great-niece ;  he  will  understand  and  not  allow  it  to  flatter 
him  too  much.  You  remember,  Roberta,  our  Mamma 
always  said  unmarried  women  —  of  any  age  —  cannot 
be  too  careful  of  les  convenances,  but  we  might  ask  him 
to  dinner  under  the  circumstances  —  don't  you  think 
so?" 

"  Oh,  I  am  sure  —  yes,  sister  —  but  I  wish  you  would 
not  talk  so  of  our  age,"  Miss  Roberta  said,  rather  fret- 
fully for  her.  "  You  were  only  seventy-two  last  No- 
vember, and  I  shall  not  be  sixty-nine  until  March  —  and 
if  you  remember,  Aunt  Agatha  lived  to  ninety-one,  and 
Aunt  Mildred  to  ninety-four!  So  we  are  not  so  very 
old  as  yet." 

"  The  more  reason  for  us  to  be  careful  then,"  retorted 
the  elder  lady,  and  Miss  Roberta  subsided  with  a  sigh 
as  she  took  her  guitar  from  the  wall  and  began  in  her 
gentle  old  quavering  voice  to  trill  out  one  of  her  many 
love-songs. 

The  guitar  had  not  been  tuned  for  several  days,  and 
had  run  down  into  a  pitiful  flatness;  Halcyone  could 
hardly  sit  still,  it  hurt  her  so  —  but  it  was  only  when 

42 


HALCYONE 

Miss  Roberta  had  begun  a  second  warble  that  either  she 
or  Miss  La  Sarthe  noticed  the  jar.  Then  a  helpless 
look  grew  in  the  songstress's  faded  eyes. 

"  Halcyone,  dear  —  I  think  you  might  tune  the  in- 
strument for  me,"  she  said.  "  I  almost  think  the  top 
string  is  not  quite  true,  and  you  do  it  so  quickly." 

And  grateful  for  the  chance,  the  child  soon  had  it 
perfectly  accorded,  and  the  concert  continued. 

Meanwhile  Mr.  Carlyon  had  got  back  to  the  orchard 
house,  and  had  rung  for  some  of  his  black  tea.  He  was 
musing  deeply  upon  events.  And  at  last  he  sat  at  his 
writing-table  and  wrote  a  letter  to  his  friend  and  former 
pupil,  John  Derringham,  in  which  he  described  his  ar- 
rival at  his  new  home,  and  his  outlook,  and  made  a  cas- 
ual reference  to  the  two  maiden  ladies  in  these  terms : 

"  The  park  and  house  is  still  owned  by  two  antedi- 
luvian spinsters  of  the  name  of  La  Sarthe  —  exquisite 
specimens  of  Early  Victorian  gentility.  They  are  very 
poor  and  proud  and  narrow-minded,  and  they  have  a 
great-niece  living  with  them,  the  most  remarkable  little 
female  intelligence  I  have  ever  come  across.  My  old 
habit  of  instruction  is  not  to  be  allowed  to  rest,  for  I  am 
going  to  teach  the  creature  Greek,  as  a  diversion.  She 
seems  to  be  about  twelve  years  old,  and  has  the  makings 
of  a  wonderful  character.  In  the  summer  you  had  bet- 
ter come  down  and  pay  me  a  visit,  if  you  are  not  too 
busy  with  your  potent  mistress,  your  political  ambi- 
tions." 

But  John  Derringham  did  not  respond  to  this  casual 
invitation  for  many  a  long  day.     He  had  other  potent 

43 


HALCYONE 

interests  beside  his  political  ambitions  —  and  in  any 
case,  never  did  anything  unless  he  felt  inclined. 

Mr.  Carlyon  did  not  expect  him  —  he  knew  him  very 
well. 

Thus  the  days  passed  and  by  the  end  of  June  even, 
Halcyone  had  learned  more  than  the  Greek  alphabet ; 
and  had  listened  to  many  charming  stories  of  that  won- 
derful people.  And  the  night  was  her  friend,  and  nu- 
merous hours  were  passed  in  the  shadow  of  his  dark 
wings,  as  she  flitted  like  some  pale  ghost  about  the  park 
and  the  deserted,  dilapidated  garden. 


CHAPTER  V 

"Si^^^HE  July  of  that  year  was  very  warm  with  pe- 
■  *•  |  culiarly  still  days,  and  Haley  one  and  her  mas- 
^^^^  ter,  Cheiron,  spent  most  of  their  time  during 
their  hours  of  study,  under  the  apple  tree.  They  had 
got  to  a  stage  of  complete  understanding,  and  seemed  to 
have  fitted  into  each  other's  lives  as  though  they  had  al- 
ways been  together. 

Mr.  Carlyon  watched  his  little  pupil  from  under  the 
shadow  of  his  penthouse  brows  with  the  deep  speculative 
interest  she  had  aroused  in  him  from  the  first.  He  had 
theories  upon  several  subjects,  which  she  seemed  to  be 
going  to  show  the  result  of  in  practice  —  and  in  his 
kindly  cynic's  heart  she  was  now  enshrined  in  a  special 
niche. 

For  Halcyone  he  was  "  Cheiron,"  her  master,  who  had 
the  enchanting  quality  of  being  able  to  see  the  other 
side  of  her  head.  Every  idea  of  her  soul  seemed  to  be 
developing  under  this  touch  of  sympathy  and  under- 
standing. Her  heterogeneous  knowledge  culled  from 
the  teachings  of  her  many  changing  governesses,  seemed 
to  regulate  itself  into  distinct  branches  with  an  upward 
shoot  for  each,  and  Mr.  Carlyon  watched  and  encour- 
aged them  all. 

It  was  on  one  glorious  Saturday  morning  when  the 

45 


HALCYONE 

fairies  and  nymphs  and  gods  and  goddesses  were  pre- 
sumably asleep  in  the  sunlight,  that  she  drew  up  her 
knees  as  she  sat  on  the  grass  by  her  Professor's  chair, 
and  pushing  away  the  Greek  grammar,  said,  with  grave 
eyes  fixed  upon  his  face: 

"  Cheiron,  to-day  something  tells  me  I  can  show  you 
Aphrodite.  When  it  is  cooler,  about  five  o'clock,  will 
you  come  with  me  to  the  second  terrace?  There  I  will 
leave  you  and  go  and  fetch  her,  and  as  William  and 
Priscilla  will  be  at  tea,  I  can  open  the  secret  door,  and 
you  shall  see  where  she  lives  —  all  in  the  dark !  " 

Mr.  Carlyon  felt  duly  honored  —  for  they  had  never 
referred  to  this  subject  since  she  had  first  mentioned 
it.  The  Professor  felt  it  was  one  of  deep  religious  sol- 
emnity to  his  little  friend,  and  had  waited  until  she 
herself  should  feel  he  was  worthy  of  her  complete  confi- 
dence. 

"  She  speaks  to  me  more  than  ever,"  Halcyone  con- 
tinued. "  I  took  her  out  in  the  moonlight  on  Thursday 
night,  and  she  seemed  to  look  more  lovely  than  before. 
It  has  pleased  her  that  I  call  her  Aphrodite  —  it  was 
certainly  her  name." 

"  It  is  settled,  then,"  said  Cheiron,  "  at  five  o'clock  I 
will  be  upon  the  terrace." 

Halcyone  returned  to  her  grammar,  and  silence  ob- 
tained between  them.  Then  presently  Mr.  Carlyon 
spoke. 

"  I  am  going  to  have  a  visitor  for  a  week  or  perhaps 
more,"  he  announced. 

A  startled  pair  of  eyes  looked  up  at  him. 

46 


HALCYONE 

"  That  seems  odd,"  Halcyone  said.  "  I  hope  whoever 
it  is  will  not  be  much  in  our  way.  I  do  not  think  I  am 
glad  —  are  you  ?  " 

"  Yes,  I  am  glad.  It  is  someone  for  whom  I  have  a 
great  regard,"  and  Mr.  Carlyon  knocked  the  ashes  from 
his  long  pipe.  "  It  is  a  young  man  who  used  to  be  at 
Oxford  and  to  whom  also  I  taught  Greek." 

"  Then  he  will  know  a  great  deal  more  than  I  do, 
being  older,"  returned  Halcyone,  not  at  all  mollified  by 
this  information. 

"  Yes,  he  knows  rather  more  than  you  do  as  yet,"  the 
Professor  allowed.  "  Perhaps  you  will  not  like  him ;  he 
can  be  quite  disagreeable  when  he  wishes  —  and  he  may 
not  like  you." 

Halcyone's  dark  brows  met. 

"  If  he  is  someone  for  whom  you  have  a  regard  he 
must  be  of  those  who  count.  I  shall  be  angry  then,  if 
he  dislikes  me  —  is  he  coming  soon  ?  " 

"  On  Monday,  by  the  four  o'clock  train." 

"  Our  lesson  will  be  over  —  that  is  something.  You 
will  not  want  me  on  Tuesday,  I  expect  ?  "  and  a  note  of 
regret  grew  in  her  voice. 

"  I  thought  you  might  have  a  holiday  for  a  while,  all 
pupils  have  holidays  in  the  summer,"  the  Professor  re- 
turned. 

"  Very  well,"  was  all  she  said,  and  then  was  quiet 
for  a  time,  thinking  the  matter  over.  She  wished  to  hear 
more  of  this  visitor  who  was  going  to  interrupt  their 
pleasant  intercourse. 

"  Of  what  sort  is  he?  "  she  asked  presently.     "  A  hun- 

47 


HALCYONE 

tcr  like  Meleager  —  or  cunning  like  Theseus  —  or  noble 
like  Perseus,  whom  I  love  best  of  all?  " 

"  He  is  not  very  Greek  to  look  at,  I  am  afraid,  except 
perhaps  in  his  length  of  limb,"  and  the  Professor  smiled. 
"  He  is  just  a  thin,  lanky,  rather  distinguished  young 
Englishman  and  was  considered  to  be  the  most  brilliant 
of  my  pupils,  taking  a  Double  First  under  my  auspices 
and  leaving  Oxford  with  flying  colors  when  I  retired 
myself  a  year  or  two  ago.  He  has  been  very  lucky 
since,  he  is  full  of  ambitions  in  the  political  line,  and  he 
has  a  fearless  and  rather  caustic  wit." 

"  I  must  think  of  him  as  Pericles,  then,  if  he  is 
occupied  with  the  state,"  said  Halcyone.  "  But 
how  has  he  been  lucky  since?     I  would  like  to  know 

—  tell  me,  please,  and  I  will  try  not  to  mind  his  being 
here." 

«  Yes  —  try  — "  said  Mr.  Carlyon.  "  After  he  took 
his  degree  he  studied  law  and  history,  you  know,  as  well 
as  the  Greek  philosophy  which  you  may  come  to  some 
day  —  he  went  to  London  to  the  Temple  to  read  for  the 
bar.  He  never  intended  to  be  a  practicing  barrister,  but 
everything  is  a  means  to  his  career.     Then  his  luck  came 

—  he  has  lots  of  friends  and  relations  in  the  great  world 
and  at  one  of  their  country  houses  he  met  the  Prime 
Minister,  who  took  a  tremendous  fancy  to  him,  and  the 
thing  going  well,  the  great  man  finally  asked  him  to  be 
his  assistant  private  secretary,  which  post  he  accepted. 
The  chief  private  secretary  last  year  being  made  gov- 
ernor of  a  colony,  John  has  now  stepped  into  his  shoes, 
and  presently  he  will  go  into  Parliament.     He  is  a  bril- 

48 


HALCYONE 

liant  fellow  and  cares  for  no  man  —  following  only  his 
own  star.     I  shall  be  very  glad  to  see  him  again." 

Halcyone's  face  fell  into  a  brown  study  and  the  Pro- 
fessor watching  her  mused  to  himself. 

"  John  Derringham  will  find  her  in  the  way.  She  is 
not  woman  enough  yet  to  attract  his  eye ;  he  will  only 
perceive  she  is  a  rather  plain  child  —  and  she  will  cer- 
tainly see  the  other  side  of  his  head." 

As  Halcyone  walked  back  to  La  Sarthe  Chase  for  her 
early  dinner,  she  mused  also: 

"  I  must  not  feel  this  dislike  towards  Cheiron's  other 
pupil.  After  all,  Jason  could  not  have  the  master  alone 
—  and  if  I  do  feel  it  then  he  will  be  able  to  harm  me, 
should  he  dislike  me,  too  —  but  if  I  try  to  like  him,  then 
he  will  be  powerless,  and  when  he  has  gone  he  will  not 
have  left  any  mark." 

Mr.  Carlyon  felt  a  perceptible  glow  of  interest  as  he 
waited  at  five  o'clock  that  day  upon  the  dilapidated  stone 
bench  in  the  archway  where  old  William  kept  his  garden 
tools,  and  while  the  subdued  light  gave  him  very  little 
chance  of  studying  minutely  the  walls,  the  general  aspect 
certainly  presented  no  hint  of  any  door.  However,  he 
had  not  to  wait  or  speculate  long,  for,  with  hardly 
a  creak,  two  stones  seemed  to  turn  upon  a  pivot,  and 
Halcyone  came  forth  from  the  aperture  bending  her 
head. 

"  After  all,  I  do  not  think  you  had  better  come  in 
with  me,"  she  said.  "  It  is  low  like  this  for  ten  yards ; 
it  will  make  your  back  ache  —  so  I  have  brought  her. 
If  you  will  hold  her,  I  will  run  out  and  see  if  all  is  safe ; 

49 


HALCYONE 

and  then  we  can  carry  her  to  the  summer  house  and  take 
off  her  scarf." 

Cheiron  held  out  his  arms  to  receive  the  precious 
bundle;  and  he  could  feel  by  its  weight  it  was  a  marble 
head.  It  was  enveloped  in  the  voluminous  folds  of  the 
remains  of  an  old  blue  silk  curtain,  a  relic  of  other  days, 
when  rich  stuffs  hung  before  the  windows  of  La  Sarthe 
Chase. 

"  I  took  the  covering  from  the  Spanish  Chest  in  the 
long  gallery,"  Halcyone  announced.  "  I  had  played 
with  it  for  years,  and  the  color  suits  her  —  it  must  be 
the  same  as  are  her  real  eyes." 

Then  she  darted  out  into  the  sunlight  and  returned 
again  in  a  few  moments  —  with  shining  face.  All  was 
safe  and  the  momentous  hour  had  come. 

She  took  her  goddess  from  Mr.  Carlyon's  arms,  and 
walking  with  the  dignity  of  a  priestess  of  the  Temple, 
she  preceded  her  master  along  the  tangled  path. 

A  riot  of  things  growing  impeded  each  step.  Roses 
which  had  degenerated  into  little  better  than  wild  ones, 
showed  late  red  and  pink  blooms,  honeysuckle  and  colum- 
bines flowered,  and  foxgloves  raised  their  graceful  heads. 

At  the  end  there  was  a  broken  bower  at  the  corner  of 
the  terrace,  with  a  superb  view  over  the  park  and  far 
beyond  to  the  high  blue  hills. 

This  place  was  cleared,  for  Halcyone  had  done  the 
necessary  work  herself.  It  was  one  of  her  outlooks  upon 
the  world  and  she  had  even  carefully  mended  the  cracked 
bench  with  a  bit  of  board  and  a  nail  or  two.  The  table, 
which  was  of  stone,  still  stood  firmly  and  was  quaint  and 

50 


HALC YONE 

rather  Greek  in  shape  —  for  had  not  a  later  Timothy  La 
Sarthe  brought  it  from  Paris  in  the  Empire  days? 

Mr.  Carlyon  sat  down  and  prepared  himself  for  the 
solemn  moment  when  the  Goddess  should  be  unveiled. 

And  when  the  reverent  little  priestess  had  removed  the 
folds  from  the  face  as  it  lay  upon  the  table,  he  started 
and  held  his  breath,  for  he  instantly  realized  that  indeed 
this  was  the  work  of  some  glorious  old  Greek  sculptor; 
none  other  could  have  created  that  perfect  head. 

And  as  he  looked,  the  child  slipped  her  hand  into  his 
and  whispered  softly : 

"  Watch  her  eyes ;  she  is  tender  to-day  and  welcomes 
us.     I  was  not  quite  sure  how  she  would  receive  you." 

And  lo !  it  seemed  to  Mr.  Carlyon  as  though  the  divine 
orbs  softened  into  a  smile,  such  was  the  art  of  those  old 
Greeks,  who  marred  not  the  marble  with  pupil  or  iris, 
who  stooped  to  no  trick  of  simulation,  but  left  the  per- 
fect modeling  to  speak  for  itself. 

The  eyes  of  this  Aphrodite  conveyed  volumes  of  love, 
with  her  nobly  planned  brows  and  temples  and  her  softly 
smooth  cheeks.  The  slight  break  of  the  nose  even  did 
not  seem  to  spoil  the  perfect  beauty  of  the  whole.  Her 
mouth,  tender  and  rather  full,  seemed  to  smile  a  welcome, 
and  the  patine,  unspoiled  by  any  casts  having  ever  been 
taken,  gleamed  as  the  finest  of  skin.  It  was  in  a  wonder- 
ful state  of  preservation  and  not  darkened  to  more  than 
a  soft  cream  color. 

So  there  she  lay  at  last !  Goddess  of  Love  still  for  all 
time.  The  head  was  broken  off  at  the  base  of  the  slen- 
der, rounded  throat. 

51 


H  A  L  C  Y  O  N  E 

Halcyone  perceived  that  Cheiron  was  appreciating  her 
treasure  in  a  proper  spirit  and  spoke  not  a  word  while  he 
examined  it  minutely,  turning  it  in  all  lights. 

"  What  consummate  genius !  "  he  almost  whispered  at 
last.  "  You  have  truly  a  goddess  here,  child,  and  you 
do  well  to  guard  her  as  such, —  Aphrodite  you  have 
named  her  well." 

'*  I  am  glad  now  that  I  have  shown  her  to  you  —  at 
first  I  was  a  little  afraid  —  but  you  understand.  And 
now  you  can  feel  how  I  have  my  mother  always  with  me. 
She  tells  me  to  hope,  and  that  all  mean  things  are  of  no 
importance,  and  that  God  intends  us  all  to  be  as  happy 
as  is  her  beautiful  smile." 

Then  Mr.  Carlyon  asked  again  for  the  story  of  the 
Goddess's  discovery,  and  heard  all  the  details  of  how 
there  was  a  ray  of  light  in  the  dark  passage,  coming  from 
some  cleverly  contrived  crack  on  the  first  terrace.  Here 
Halcvone's  foot  had  struck  against  the  marble  upon  her 
original  voyage  of  discovery,  and  by  the  other  objects 
she  encountered  she  supposed  someone  long  ago,  being 
in  flight,  had  gradually  dropped  things  which  were  heavy 
and  of  least  value.  There  was  a  breastplate  as  well, 
and  an  iron-bound  box  which  she  had  never  been  able  to 
move  or  open. 

"  You  might  help  me  and  we  could  look  into  it  some 
day,"  she  said. 

Mr.  Carlyon  took  Aphrodite  into  his  hands  and  raised 
her  head,  examining  every  point  with  minute  care,  and 
now  her  expression  appeared  to  change  and  grow  sad  in 
the  different  effect  of  light. 

52 


HALCYONE 


a 


I  do  not  want  her  to  be  up  upon  a  pillar  like  Artemis 
and  Hebe,  who  are  still  in  the  hall,"  Halcyone  said. 
"  She  could  not  talk  to  me  then,  she  would  be  always 
the  same.  I  like  to  hold  her  this  way  and  that,  and  then 
I  can  see  her  moods  and  the  blue  silks  keeps  her  nice  and 


warm." 


"  It  is  a  great  possession,"  said  Cheiron,  "  and  I  un- 
derstand your  joy  in  it,"  and  he  handed  the  head  back 
to  the  child  with  respect. 

Halcyone  bent  and  caressed  it  with  her  soft  little  velvet 
cheek. 

"  See,"  she  said.  "  Once  I  was  very  foolish  and  cried 
about  something  and  the  tears  made  this  little  mark," 
and  she  pointed  to  two  small  spots  which  did  not  gleam 
quite  so  much  as  the  rest  of  the  surface.  "  Tears  al- 
ways do  silly  things  —  I  am  never  so  foolish  now." 
And  then  her  young  voice  became  dreamy  and  her 
eyes  widened  with  a  look  as  though  she  saw  far  be- 
yond. 

"  Cheiron  —  all  the  world  is  made  for  gladness  if  we 
only  do  not  take  the  ugly  things  with  us  everywhere. 
There  is  summer,  as  it  is  now,  when  we  rest  and  play  and 
all  the  gods  come  down  from  Olympus  and  dance  and 
sing  and  bask  in  the  light  —  and  then  the  autumn  when 
the  colors  are  rich  and  everything  prepares  for  winter 
and  sleeps.  But  even  in  the  cold  and  dark  we  must  not 
be  sad,  because  we  know  it  is  only  for  a  time  and  to 
give  us  change,  so  that  we  may  shout  for  joy  when  the 
spring  comes  and  each  year  discover  in  it  some  new 
beauty." 

53 


HALCYONE 

Chciron  did  not  speak  for  a  while,  he,  too,  was  musing. 

"  You  are  a  little  Epicurean,"  he  said  at  last,  "  and 
presently  we  shall  read  about  Epicurus'  great  principles 
and  his  garden  where  he  taught  and  lived." 


CHAPTER  VI 

"^— g"OHN  DERRINGHAM  had  been  at  the  or- 
£}  chard  house  for  three  or  four  days  before  there 

^^^r  was  any  sign  of  Halcyone.  She  had  kept  away 
on  purpose  and  was  doing  her  best  to  repress  the  sense 
of  resentment  the  thought  of  the  presence  of  a  stranger 
caused.  Mr.  Carlyon  had  given  her  some  simple  books 
upon  the  Renaissance  which  she  was  devouring  with  joy. 
This  period  seemed  to  give  some  echo  of  the  Greek  ideas 
she  loved,  and  as  was  her  habit  she  was  visualizing  every- 
thing as  she  read,  bringing  the  people  and  the  places 
up  before  her  mental  eyes,  and  regulating  them  into 
friends  or  acquaintances.  Cheiron  did  not  confine  him- 
self to  teaching  her  Greek  alone,  but  directed  all  her 
reading,  taking  a  growing  delight  in  her  intelligent  mind. 
Thus  they  had  many  talks  upon  history  and  the  natural 
sciences  and  poetry  and  painting.  But  to  hear  of  the 
famous  statues  and  leam  from  pictures  to  know  the  styles 
of  the  old  sculptors  seemed  to  please  her  best  of  all. 

By  the  fifth  day,  a  Friday,  Mr.  Carlyon  began  to  feel 
a  desire  to  see  his  little  pupil  again  and  sent  her  a  mes- 
sage by  his  dark,  silent  servant.  Would  she  not  take  tea 
with  him  that  afternoon  ?  So  Halcyone  came.  She  was 
very  quiet  and  subdued  and  crept  through  her  gap  in  the 
hedge  without  any  leaps  or  bounds. 
5  55 


HALCYONE 

John  Derringham  was  stretched  the  whole  length  of 
his  long,  lean  limbs  under  the  apple  tree  —  her  apple 
tree!     This  did  not  produce  a  favorable  note. 

Cheiron  watched  the  meeting  with  inward  amuse- 
ment. 

"  This  is  my  little  friend  Halcyone  La  Sarthe,"  he 
said.  "  Halcyone,  yonder  Tityus  in  these  latter  days  is 
known  by  the  name  of  John  Derringham  —  of  Derring- 
ham in  the  County  of  Northampton.  Make  your  bows 
to  one  another." 

Halcyone  inclined  her  head  with  dignity,  but  Mr. 
Derringham  only  raised  himself  a  little  and  said  "  Good 
afternoon."  He  did  not  care  for  children,  and  was  busy 
with  his  old  master  discussing  other  things. 

"  You  will  pour  out  the  tea,  Halcyone,  for  us  as  us- 
ual," Cheiron  said.  "  Demetrius  will  bring  it  in  a  min- 
ute." And  Halcyone  sat  down  demurely  upon  the 
basket  chair  near  the  table  and  crossed  her  hands. 

"  I  tell  you  I  will  not  take  their  point  of  view,"  John 
Derringham  said,  continuing  the  conversation  he  had 
been  carrying  on  before  Halcyone  arrived.  "  Every- 
thing in  England  is  spoilt  by  this  pandering  to  the 
mediocrity.  A  man  may  not  make  a  speech  but  he  must 
choose  his  words  so  that  uneducated  clods  can  grasp  his 
meaning,  he  cannot  advocate  an  idea  with  success  unless 
it  can  appeal  to  the  lower  middle  classes.  It  is  this 
subservience  to  them  which  has  brought  us  to  where  we 
are.  No  ideals  —  no  lofty  ends  —  just  a  means  to  each 
one's  own  hand.  I  will  never  pretend  we  are  all  equal,  I 
will  never  appeal  to  anything  but  the  highest  in  an  audi- 

56 


HALCYONE 

ence.  So  they  can  throw  me  out  if  they  will !  "  And  he 
stretched  out  his  long  legs  and  clasped  his  hands  under 
his  head  —  so  that  to  Halcyone  he  seemed  seven  foot 
tall. 

"  Tityus  "  she  thought  was  a  very  apt  name  for  him, 
and  she  wondered  if  he  would  jump  if  the  vulture  sud- 
denly gave  a  gnaw  at  his  liver ! 

"  You  are  an  idealist,  John,"  said  Mr.  Carlyon.  "  All 
this  might  have  been  of  some  use  as  a  principle  of  propa- 
ganda before  the  franchise  was  so  low,  but  now  the  medi- 
ocrity is  our  master  —  so  of  what  use?  If  you  talked 
so  you  would  but  preach  to  empty  benches." 

"  I  will  not  do  that  —  I  will  make  them  listen.  My 
point  is  that  everyone  can  rise  if  he  wishes,  but  until  he 
has  done  so  in  fact,  there  is  no  use  in  his  pretending  in 
words  that  he  has.  I  would  explain  to  them  the  reason 
of  things.  I  could  have  agreed  with  the  greatest  Athe- 
nian democrats  because  their  principle  was  one  of  sense. 
They  had  slaves  to  do  the  lowest  offices  who  had  no  voice 
in  public  affairs,  but  here  we  let  those  who  have  no  more 
education  or  comprehension  than  slaves  have  the  same 
power  as  men  who  have  spent  their  lives  in  studying  the 
matter.  It  is  all  unjust,  and  no  one  has  the  courage  to 
tell  them  to  their  faces  they  are  unfitted  for  the  task." 

"  It  will  be  a  grand  stalking  horse  for  your  first  essay 
in  your  constituency,"  Cheiron  said  with  his  kindly 
twinkle  of  sarcasm.  He  loved  to  encourage  John  Der- 
ringham  to  talk. 

But  at  that  moment  Demetrius  brought  the  tea  and 
Halcyone  gravely  began  her  task. 

57 


HALCYONE 

"  Do  you  take  it  black  like  Mr.  Carlyon  ?  "  she  asked 
of  the  reclining  guest. 

He  came  back  to  the  remembrance  of  her  presence  and 
glancing  at  her,  murmured: 

"  Oh  —  ah,  no  —  that  is,  yes  —  strong,  only  with 
cream  and  sugar.     Thanks  awfully." 

But  Haley  one  did  not  rise  to  hand  it  to  him,  so  he 
was  obliged  to  get  up  and  take  it  from  where  she  sat. 
She  perceived  then  that  though  extremely  thin  he  was 
lithe  and  well-shaped.  And  in  spite  of  her  unconquered 
prejudice,  she  was  obliged  to  own  she  liked  his  steely 
gray  hawk-like  eyes  and  his  fine,  rather  ascetic,  clean- 
shaven face.  He  did  not  look  at  her  specially.  He  may 
have  taken  in  a  small,  pale  visage  and  masses  of  mouse- 
colored  hair  and  slender  legs  —  but  nothing  struck  him 
particularly  except  her  feet.  As  his  eyes  dropped  to  the 
ground  he  caught  sight  of  them;  they  were  singularly 
perfect  feet.  He  admired  points  in  man  or  beast  —  and 
when  he  had  returned  to  his  old  place  stretched  out  under 
the  apple  tree,  he  still  glanced  at  them  now  and  then; 
they  satisfied  his  eye. 

"  What  have  you  been  doing  in  these  days,  Haley- 
one?  "  Mr.  Carlyon  asked.  "  I  have  not  seen  you  since 
Monday  morning.  Have  you  been  getting  into  any  mis- 
chief? " 

Halcyone  reluctantly  admitted  that  she  had  not. 
There  was,  she  explained,  very  little  chance  of  any  of  an 
agreeable  kind  coming  her  way  at  La  Sarthe  Chase.  She 
had  been  gardening  with  William  —  they  had  quite  tidied 

58 


HALCYONE 

the  top  terrace  —  and  she  had  been  reading  French  with 
Aunt  Roberta,  but  the  book  was  great  nonsense. 

Then  she  added  that  she  had  brought  an  invitation 
from  the  Aunts  La  Sarthe  that  Mr.  Carlyon's  guest 
should  accompany  him  when  he  dined  with  them  on  the 
Saturday.  It  had  become  the  custom  for  him  to  partake 
of  this  repast  on  the  same  occasions  that  Mr.  Miller  did 
—  once  a  month. 

John  Derringham  frowned  under  his  straw  hat  which 
he  had  pulled  over  his  eyes.  He  had  not  come  into  the 
country  to  be  dragged  out  to  bucolic  dinner  parties. 
But  upon  some  points  he  knew  his  old  master  was  ob- 
durate and  from  his  firm  acceptance  of  the  invitation 
this  appeared  to  be  one  of  them. 

Then  Halcyone  asked  politely  if  he  would  have  a  sec- 
ond cup  of  tea,  but  he  refused  and  again  addressed 
Cheiron,  ignoring  her.  Their  conversation  now  ran  into 
philosophical  questions,  some  of  them  out  of  her  depth, 
but  much  of  the  subject  interested  her  deeply  and  she 
listened  absorbed. 

At  last  there  was  a  pause  and  her  fresh  young  voice 
asked : 

"  What,  then,  is  the  aim  of  philosophy  —  is  it  only 
words,  or  does  it  bring  any  good?  " 

And  both  men  looked  at  her,  staggered  for  a  moment, 
and  John  Derringham  burst  into  a  ringing  laugh. 

"  Upon  my  word,  I  don't  know,"  he  said.  "  It  was 
invented  so  that  the  Master  here  and  I  should  pull  each 
other's  theories  to  pieces ;  that  evidently  was  its  aim  from 

59 


HALCYONE 

the  beginning  of  time.  I  do  not  know  if  it  has  any  other 
good." 

"  Everything  is  so  very  simple,"  said  Halcyone.  "  To 
have  to  argue  about  it  must  be  fatiguing." 

"  You  find  things  simple,  do  you?"  asked  John  Der- 
ringham,  now  complacently  roused  to  look  at  her. 
"  What  are  your  rules  of  life  then,  let  us  hear,  oh, 
Oracle !  —  we  listen  with  respect !  " 

Halcyone  reddened  a  little  and  a  gleam  grew  in  her 
wise  eyes.  She  would  have  refused  to  reply,  but  look- 
ing at  her  revered  master,  she  saw  that  he  was  awaiting 
her  answer  with  an  encouraging  smile.  So  she  thought 
a  second  and  then  said  calmly,  measuring  her  words: 
"  Things  are  what  we  make  them,  they  have  no  power 
in  themselves ;  they  are  as  inanimate  as  this  wood  — " 
and  she  touched  the  table  with  her  fine  brown  hand. 
"  It  is  we  ourselves  who  give  them  activity.  So  it  is  our 
own  faults  if  they  are  bad  —  they  could  just  as  easily  be 
good.      Is  not  that  simple  enough?  " 

"  An  example,  please,  Goddess,"  demanded  John  Der- 
ringham  with  a  cynical  smile. 

"  The  dark  is  an  example,"  she  went  on  quietly. 
"  People  fill  the  dark  with  their  own  frightening  images 
and  fear  it  because  they  themselves  have  turned  it  into 
evil.     The  dark  is  as  kind  as  the  day." 

John  Derringham  laughed.  He  was  amused  at  this 
precocious  wisdom  and  he  suddenly  remembered  that  his 
old  master  had  mentioned  some  clever  child  when  writ- 
ing to  him  first  about  the  place,  two  months  before. 
This  was  the  creature,  then,  who  was  learning  Greek. 

60 


HALCYONE 

She  had  picked  up  these  ideas,  of  course,  out  of  some 
book  and  was  showing  off.  Children  should  be  snubbed 
and  kept  in  their  places: 

"  Then  you  don't  cry  when  your  nurse  leaves  you  at 
night  without  a  candle.  What  a  good  little  girl !  But 
perhaps  you  take  a  doll  to  bed,"  he  added  mockingly, 
"  or  suck  your  thumb." 

Halcyone  did  not  answer,  her  eyes,  benign  as  a  god- 
dess's, looked  him  through  and  through  —  and  Cheiron 
leaned  back  in  his  chair  and  puffed  volumes  of  smoke 
while  he  chuckled  delightedly : 

"  Take  care,  John  —  you  will  come  off  second  best, 
for  Halcyone  can  see  the  other  side  of  your  head." 

For  some  unaccountable  reason,  John  Derringham 
felt  annoyed ;  but  it  was  too  contemptible  to  be  annoyed 
by  a  child,  so  he  laughed  as  he  answered  condescend- 
ingly : 

"  There,  I  will  not  tease  her.  I  expect  she  hates  me 
already  — "  and  he  pushed  his  hat  back  from  his  eyes. 

"  No,"  said  Halcyone.  "  One  only  hates  a  thing  one 
fears ;  hate  implies  fear.  I  hated  my  last  but  one  gov- 
erness for  a  while  —  because  she  told  lies  and  was  mean 
and  she  had  the  power  to  keep  me  in.  But  once  I  rea- 
soned about  it,  I  grew  quite  indifferent  and  she  had  no 
effect  upon  me  at  all." 

"  You  have  not  had  time  to  reason  about  me,"  re- 
turned John  Derringham,  "  but  it  is  something  that  you 
don't  hate  me ;  I  ought  to  feel  pleased." 

"  I  do  not  know  that  there  is  occasion  for  that,"  Hal- 
cyone remarked,  "  it  is  all  a  level  thing  which  does  not 

61 


HALCYONE 

matter.  You  are  Mr.  Carlyon's  guest  and  I  expect  will 
be  staying  some  time  — " 

"  So  you  will  have  to  put  up  with  me !  "  and  John 
Derringham  laughed,  furious  now  with  himself  for  his 
increasing  irritation. 

"  I  must  be  going,"  Halcyone  then  announced  and 
got  up  from  her  chair  — "  and  I  will  tell  my  aunts  that 
they  may  expect  you  to-morrow  night,"  she  continued, 
addressing  Mr.  Carlyon. 

He  rose  and  prepared  to  accompany  her  down  the 
garden.  She  bowed  to  John  Derringham  with  quiet  dig- 
nity as  he  still  lay  on  the  ground  and  walked  on  by  the 
side  of  her  Professor  without  further  words. 

"You  don't  like  my  old  pupil,  Halcyone?"  Mr. 
Carlyon  said  when  they  got  to  the  gap  in  the  hedge. 
"  Tell  me,  what  do  you  see  at  the  other  side  of  hi* 
head?" 

"  Himself,"  was  all  she  answered  as  she  bounded 
lightly  away  laughing,  and  was  soon  lost  to  view  in  the 
copse  beyond. 

And  Cheiron,  considerably  amused,  returned  to  his 
prostrate  guest  to  find  him  with  a  frown  upon  his  face. 

"  I  hope  to  goodness,  Master,  you  won't  bore  me  with 
that  brat  while  I  am  here,"  he  exclaimed,  "  chattering 
aphorisms  like  a  parrot.  I  can't  stand  children  out  of 
their  place." 


CHAPTER  VII 

TNCE  there  will  be  three  gentlemen,  Ginevra," 
Miss  Roberta  said  on  Saturday  morning  when 
they  sat  together  in  the  Italian  parlor  after 
breakfast,  "  do  you  not  think  we  had  better  have  Hal- 
cyone  down  to  dinner  to-night?  I  know,"  she  added 
timidly,  "  it  is  not  in  the  proper  order  of  things,  but 
we  could  make  an  exception." 

Miss  La  Sarthe  frowned.  Roberta  so  often  was 
ready  to  upset  regulations.  She  was  difficult  to  deal 
with.  But  this  suggestion  of  hers  had  some  point. 
They  would  be  two  ladies  to  three  of  the  other  sex  — 
and  one  of  their  guests  appeared  to  be  quite  a  young  man 
—  perhaps  it  might  be  more  prudent  to  relax  a  rule, 
than  to  find  themselves  in  an  embarrassing  position. 

"  I  strongly  deplore  the  fact  of  children  ever  being 
brought  from  their  seclusion  except  for  dessert,  but  as 
you  say,  Roberta,  three  gentlemen  —  and  one  a  perfect 
stranger  —  might  be  too  much  for  us.  I  hardly  think 
our  Mamma  would  have  approved  of  our  giving  such  an 
unchaperoned  party,  so  for  this  once  Halcyone  had  bet- 
ter come  down.  She  can  have  Mr.  Miller  for  her  part- 
ner, you  will  be  conducted  by  the  Professor  —  and  the 
new  guest  will  take  me  in." 

Miss  Roberta  bridled  —  the  Professor  was  now  a  hero 
in  her  eyes. 

63 


HALCYON E 

"  And  Sister,"  she  said,  "  I  think  we  might  bring  six 
of  the  chairs  from  Sir  Timothy's  bed-  and  dressing-room 
just  for  to-night,  instead  of  those  Windsor  ones.  It 
would  give  the  dining-room  a  better  look,  do  you  not 
think  so?  " 

And  to  this  also  Miss  La  Sarthe  agreed.  So  Miss 
Roberta  joyfully  found  Haley  one  out  upon  the  second 
terrace  and  imparted  to  her  the  good  news.  They  would 
arrange  flowers  in  the  epergne,  she  suggested  —  a  few 
sweet  williams  and  mignonette  and  a  foxglove  or  two. 
A  pretty  posy  fixed  in  sand,  such  as  she  remembered 
there  always  was  in  their  gala  days.  Halcyone  was 
enchanted  at  the  prospect. 

"  Oh !  dear  Aunt  Roberta,  do  let  me  do  it  all,"  she 
said.  "  You  sit  here  on  the  bench  and  I  will  run  and 
fetch  the  epergne  —  and  we  can  pick  what  we  think  best. 
Or  —  don't  you  think  just  a  big  china  bowl  full  of  sweet 
peas  would  be  prettier?  The  sand  might  show  and,  and 
—  the  epergne  is  rather  stiff." 

But  Miss  Roberta  looked  aggrieved.  The  epergne 
with  its  gold  and  silver  fern  leaves  climbing  up  a  thin 
stalk  of  glass  to  its  top  dish  for  fruit  had  always  come 
out  for  dinner  parties  and  she  liked  not  innovations.  It 
was  indeed  as  much  as  Halcyone  could  do  to  get  all  the 
flowers  of  the  same  kind,  a  nasturtium  and  a  magenta 
stock  had  with  care  to  be  smuggled  away,  leaving  the 
sweet  peas  sole  occupants  of  the  sand.  But  the  effect 
was  very  festive  and  the  two  carried  their  work  into  the 
dining-room  well  pleased. 

The  best  Sevres  dinner-set  was  had  out,  which  that 

64 


HALCYONE 

traveler  Timothy  had  brought  from  Paris  among  other 
things,  and  the  best  cut  glass  and  rat-tailed  silver.  Old 
William,  assisted  by  Hester  and  Priscilla,  had  been  busy 
polishing  most  of  the  day  —  while  the  cook  and  the 
"  young  person  from  the  village  "  were  contriving  won- 
ders in  the  vast  kitchen.  And  punctually  at  seven  in 
broad  da3rlight,  the  three  Misses  La  Sarthe,  the  two  elder 
in  their  finest  mauve  silk  evening  dresses,  awaited  their 
guests  in  the  Italian  parlor. 

Miss  Roberta's  heart  had  not  fluttered  like  this  since 
a  county  ball  some  forty  years  ago  when  a  certain  whis- 
kered captain  of  a  dashing  cavalry  regiment  stationed  at 
Upminster  had  whispered  in  her  ear. 

Priscilla  had  let  down  Halcyone's  white  muslin  frock 
and  as  the  tucks  were  rather  large,  it  was  longer  than 
she  intended,  so  that  the  child  might  easily  have  been 
taken  for  a  girl  of  fifteen,  and  her  perfect  feet  were 
encased  in  a  pair  of  old-fashioned  bronze  slippers  with 
elastics  crossed  up  the  legs  of  her  white  silk  stockings. 
A  fillet  of  blue  silk  kept  back  the  soft  cloud  of  her  mouse- 
colored  hair. 

Mr.  Miller  was  announced  first  —  very  nervous,  as 
usual,  and  saying  the  wrong  thing  in  his  flurry.  Then 
up  the  terrace  steps  could  be  seen  advancing  Mr.  Car- 
lyon  and  his  guest.  They  had  walked  over  from  the 
cottage  —  and  Halcyone,  observing  from  the  window, 
was  conscious  that  against  her  will  she  was  admiring 
John  Derringham's  arrogant,  commanding  walk. 

"  He  could  very  well  be  as  Theseus  was  after  he  grew 
proud,"  she  said  to  herself. 

G5 


H ALCYONE 

And  soon  they  were  announced. 

Mr.  Carlyon  was  now  on  the  most  friendly  terms  with 
both  old  ladies,  and  as  well  as  coming  to  the  monthly 
dinner,  sometimes  dropped  in  to  tea  on  Sunday  after- 
noons, but  he  knew  this  was  a  real  party  and  must  be 
treated  as  such. 

How  agreeable  it  felt  to  be  once  more  in  the  world, 
Miss  Roberta  thought,  and  her  faded  pale  cheeks  flushed 
a  delicate  pink. 

John  Derringham  had  been  sulky  as  a  bear  at  the 
idea  of  coming,  but  something  in  the  quaintly  pathetic 
refinement  of  the  poor  and  splendid  old  house  pleased 
him,  and  the  aroma  of  untouched  early-Victorian 
prudish  grace  which  the  ancient  ladies  threw  around 
them  appealed  to  his  imagination,  as  any  complete  bit 
of  art  or  nature  always  did.  He  found  himself  seated 
between  Miss  La  Sarthe  and  Halcyone  and  quite  enjoy- 
ing himself.  Everything  was  of  the  time  from  the 
epergne  to  the  way  the  bread  was  cut. 

Halcyone  conversed  with  Mr.  Miller,  who  always  felt 
he  must  make  nursery  jokes  with  her  and  ask  her  the 
names  of  her  dolls. 

"  He  can't  help  it,"  she  told  Cheiron  one  day.  "  If 
he  had  any  more  intelligence  God  would  have  put  him 
to  work  in  some  busier  place." 

John  Derringham  did  not  address  her;  he  devoted 
himself  to  Miss  La  Sarthe. 

He  had  absolutely  no  diffidence.  He  had  been  spoilt 
from  his  cradle,  and  by  the  time  he  had  left  Eton  — 
Captain  of  the  Oppidans  —  had  ruled  all  those  near  him 

66 


HALCYONE 

with  a  rod  of  iron,  imposing  his  interesting  enthusiastic 
personality  upon  all  companies  with  unqualified  success. 
Miss  La  Sarthe  fell  at  once.  He  said  exactly  the  right 
things  to  her  and  flattered  her  by  his  unfeigned  interest 
in  all  she  spoke  of.  He  was  studying  her  as  he  studied 
any  rare  memento  of  historical  value. 

"  My  great-niece  reads  every  morning  with  Mr.  Carl- 
yon,"  she  said  presently.  "  Girls  are  expected  to  be 
so  very  clever  nowadays,  we  are  told.  She  already 
knows  a  little  Greek.  It  would  have  been  considered 
quite  unnecessary  in  our  day." 

"  And  I  am  sure  it  is  in  this,"  said  John  Derringham. 
"  Learned  women  are  an  awful  bore.  As  a  sex  they 
were  meant  to  be  feminine,  dainty,  exquisite  creatures 
as  those  I  see  to-night,"  and  he  bowed  gallantly  while 
Miss  La  Sarthe  thrilled.  She  thoroughly  approved  of 
his  appearance. 

"  So  very  much  of  a  gentleman,  Roberta,"  she  after- 
wards said.  "  None  of  that  thick,  ill-cut  look  we  are 
obliged  to  observe  in  so  many  of  the  younger  people  we 
see  when  we  go  into  Upminster  each  year." 

"And  why  should  he  look  thick  or  ill-cut,  Sister?" 
Miss  Roberta  replied.  "  Mr.  Carlyon  told  me  the  Der- 
ringhams  have  been  seated  at  Derringham  since  fabu- 
lous times." 

Thus  this  last  of  that  race  was  appreciated  fully  in  at 
least  two  antiquated  female  hearts. 

But  meanwhile  the  cloth  was  being  removed,  and  the 
port  wine  and  old  Madeira  placed  before  the  elder  hos- 
tess. 

67 


HALCYONE 

"  Our  father's  cellar  was  famous  for  its  port,"  she 
said,  "  and  we  have  a  few  bottles  of  the  '47  left." 

But  now  she  felt  it  was  only  manners  to  turn  to  Mr. 
Carlyon  upon  her  other  hand,  so  John  Derringham  was 
left  in  silence,  no  obligation  to  talk  to  Halcyone  making 
itself  felt.  She  turned  and  looked  at  him,  he  interested 
her  very  much.  Mr.  Carlyon  had  quantities  of  books 
of  photographs  of  all  the  famous  statues  in  Europe  and 
especially  in  Italy  and  Greece,  but  she  could  not  find 
any  likeness  to  him  in  any  of  her  recollection  of  them. 
Alas !  his  face  was  not  at  all  Greek.  His  nose  was  high 
and  aquiline,  his  forehead  high  and  broad,  and  there  was 
something  noble  and  dominating  in  his  fearless  regard. 
His  hair  even  did  not  grow  very  prettily,  though  it  was 
thick  and  dark  —  and  there  was  not  an  ounce  of  super- 
fluous flesh  upon  his  whole  person.  He  never  for  a 
moment  suggested  repose,  he  gave  the  impression  of 
vivid,  nervous  force  and  action,  a  young  knight  going 
out  to  fight  any  impossible  dragon  with  his  good  sword 
and  shield  —  unabashed  by  the  smoke  from  its  flaming 
nostrils,  undaunted  by  any  fear  of  death. 

Halcyone  watched  him,  and  her  prejudice  slept. 

The  silence  had  lasted  quite  five  minutes  when  he  al- 
lowed his  natural  good  manners,  which  he  was  quite 
aware  he  had  kept  in  abeyance  in  regard  to  her,  to  come 
uppermost. 

"  The  Professor  has  been  telling  me  how  wonderfully 
you  work  with  him,"  he  said ;  "  we  under  him  at  Oxford 
were  not  half  so  diligent  it  seems.  I  wonder  what  good 
it  will  be  to  you  at  all." 

68 


HALCYONE 


« 


If  a  thing  gives  pleasure,  it  is  good,"  she  answered 
gravely.  "  I  wanted  to  learn  Greek  because  I  had  a 
book  when  I  was  little  which  told  me  about  those  splen- 
did heroes,  and  I  thought  I  could  read  more  about 
them  when  I  am  grown  up  if  I  knew  it  —  than  if  I  did 
not." 

"  There  is  something  in  that.  What  was  the  book?  " 
he  asked. 

Her  steady  eyes  looked  straight  into  his  as  she  re- 
plied :  "  It  was  Kingsley's  '  Heroes '  and  if  only  I 
were  a  boy  I  would  be  like  Perseus  and  go  and  kill  the 
Gorgon  and  rescue  Andromeda  from  the  sea  monster. 
Pallas  Athene  said  some  fine  things  to  him  —  do  you 
remember  ?  —  when  she  asked  him  the  question  of  which 
sort  of  man  he  would  be." 

"  No,  I  don't  remember,"  said  John  Derringham. 
"  You  must  tell  me  now." 

Then  Halcyone  began  in  a  soft  dream  voice  while  her 
eyes  widened  and  darkened  with  that  strange  look  as 
though  she  saw  into  another  and  vaster  world.  "  '  I  am 
Pallas  Athene  and  I  know  the  thoughts  of  all  men's 
hearts,  and  discern  their  manhood  or  their  baseness. 
And  from  the  souls  of  clay  I  turn  away;  and  they  are 
blest,  but  not  by  me.  They  fatten  at  ease  like  sheep  in 
the  pasture  and  eat  what  they  did  not  sow,  like  oxen 
in  the  stall.  They  grow  and  spread  like  the  gourd 
along  the  ground,  but  like  the  gourd  they  give  no  shade 
to  the  traveler  and  when  they  are  ripe  death  gathers 
them,  and  they  go  down  unloved  into  hell,  and  their 
name  vanishes  out  of  the  land.'  " 

69 


HALCYONE 

She  paused  a  second  and  John  Derringham  was  as- 
tonished at  himself  because  he  was  conscious  of  experi- 
encing a  thrill  of  deep  interest. 

"  Yes  ?  "  he  said  —  and  her  voice  went  on : 

"  '  But  to  the  souls  of  fire  I  give  more  fire  and  to  those 
who  are  manful  I  give  a  might  more  than  man's.  These 
are  the  heroes,  the  sons  of  the  Immortals  who  are  blest 
but  not  like  the  souls  of  clay,  for  I  drive  them  forth  by 
strange  paths,  Perseus,  that  they  may  fight  the  Titans 
and  monsters,  the  enemies  of  gods  and  men.  Through 
doubt  and  need  and  danger  and  battle  I  drive  them, 
and  some  of  them  are  slain  in  the  flower  of  youth,  no 
man  knows  when  or  where,  and  some  of  them  win  noble 
names  and  a  fair  and  green  old  age  —  but  what  will  be 
their  latter  end,  I  know  not,  and  none,  save  Zeus,  the  fa- 
ther of  gods  and  men  —  Tell  me,  now,  Perseus,  which  of 
these  two  sorts  of  men  seem  to  you  more  blest  ?  '  " 

It  was  as  if  she  asked  him  a  personal  question  and 
unconsciously  he  answered: 

"  I  should  reply  as  Perseus  did.     Tell  me  his  words." 

"  '  Better  to  die  in  the  flower  of  youth  on  the  chance 
of  winning  a  noble  name  than  to  live  at  ease  like  the 
sheep  and  die  unloved  and  unrenowned.'  " 

He  bent  nearer  to  her  and  answered  softly :  "  They 
are  indeed  fine  words,"  and  there  was  no  mockery  what- 
ever in  his  eyes  as  he  looked  at  her  —  and  took  in  every 
detail  of  her  pure  childish  face.  "  You  wonderful, 
strange  little  girl  —  soon  I  too  am  going  like  Perseus 
to  fight  the  Gorgons,  and  I  shall  remember  this  night 
and  what  you  have  said." 

70 


HALCYONE 

But  at  that  moment  Mr.  Miller's  high,  cackling  laugh 
was  heard  in  an  explosion  of  mirth.  Mr.  Carlyon  had 
made  some  delightfully  obvious  joke  for  his  delectation 
and  amidst  a  smiling  company  Miss  La  Sarthe  rose 
with  dignity  to  leave  the  gentlemen  alone  with  their 
wine. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

QEXT    morning,    John    Derringham    sat    at    a 
late    breakfast    with    his    whilom    master    of 
Greek  and  discussed  things  in  general  over  his 
bacon  and  tea. 

It  was  three  years  since  he  had  left  Oxford,  and  life 
held  out  many  interesting  aspects  for  him.  He  was 
standing  for  the  southern  division  of  his  county  in  the 
following  spring  when  the  present  member  was  going 
to  retire,  and  he  was  vehement  in  his  views  and  clear  as 
to  the  course  he  meant  to  take.  He  was  so  eloquent  in 
his  discourse  and  so  full  of  that  divine  spark  of  en- 
thusiasm, that  he  was  always  listened  to,  no  matter  how 
unpalatably  Tory  the  basic  principles  of  his  utterances 
were.  He  never  posed  as  anything  but  an  aristocrat, 
and  while  he  whimsically  admitted  that  in  the  present 
day  to  be  one  was  an  enormous  disadvantage  for  a  man 
who  wished  to  get  on,  he  endeavored  to  palliate  the  mis- 
fortune by  lucid  explanation  of  what  the  duties  of  such 
a  status  were,  and  of  the  logical  advantages  which  an 
appreciation  of  the  truths  of  cause  and  effect  might 
bring  to  mankind.  Down  in  his  own  country  he  was 
considered  the  coming  man.  He  thundered  at  the  peo- 
ple and  had  facts  and  figures  at  his  finger  tips.  His 
sublime  belief  in  himself  never  wavered  and  like  any 

72 


HALC YONE 

inspired  view,  right  or  wrong,  it  had  its  strong  effect. 

Mr.  Carlyon  thought  highly  of  him,  for  a  number  of 
reasons. 

"  If  women  do  not  make  a  stumbling-block  for  you, 
John,  you  will  go  far,"  he  said  as  he  buttered  his 
toast. 

"  Women !  "  quoth  John  Derringham,  and  he  laughed 
incredulously.  "  They  matter  no  more  to  me  than  the 
flowers  in  the  garden  —  enchanting  in  the  summer  time, 
a  mere  pleasure  for  sight  and  touch,  but  to  make  or 
mar  a  man's  life !  —  not  even  to  be  considered  as  factors 
in  the  scheme  of  things." 

"  I  am  glad  to  hear  you  say  so,"  said  Mr.  Carlyon 
dryly.  "  And  I  hope  that  jade,  Fate,  won't  play  you 
any  tricks." 

John  Derringham  smiled. 

"  I  admit  that  a  woman  with  money  may  be  useful 
to  me  by  and  by,"  he  said,  "  because,  as  you  know,  I 
am  always  hard  up,  and  presently  when  I  want  to  occupy 
a  larger  sphere  I  shall  require  money  for  my  ends,  but 
for  the  time  being  they  serve  to  divert  me  as  a  relaxa- 
tion ;  that  is  all." 

"  You  are  contracting  no  ties,  dear  lad  ?  "  asked  the 
Professor  with  one  eyebrow  raised,  while  he  shook 
back  his  silvery  hair.  "  I  had  heard  vaguely  about 
your  attention  to  Lady  Durrend,  but  I  understand 
she  has  had  many  preliminary  canters  and  knows  the 
ropes." 

John  Derringham  smiled.  "  Vivienne  Durrend  is  a 
most  charming  woman,"  he  said.     "  She  has  taught  me 

73 


HALCYON E 

a  number  of  tilings  in  the  last  two  years.  I  am  grateful 
to  her.  Next  season  she  is  bringing  a  daughter  out  — 
and  she  has  a  wonderful  sense  of  the  fitness  of  things." 
Then  he  sipped  his  tea  and  got  up  and  strolled  towards 
the  windows. 

"  Besides,"  he  continued,  "  I  do  not  admit  there  are 
any  ties  to  be  contracted.  The  Greeks  understood  the 
place  of  women;  all  this  nonsense  of  vows  of  fidelity 
and  exaltation  of  sentiment  in  the  home  cramps  a  man's 
ambitions.  It  is  perfectly  natural  that  he  should  take 
a  wife  if  his  position  calls  for  it,  because  the  society  in 
which  we  move  has  made  a  figurehead  of  that  kind  neces- 
sary. But  that  a  woman  should  expect  a  man  to  be 
faithful  to  her,  be  she  wife  or  mistress,  is  contrary  to 
all  nature." 

"  We  have  put  nature  out  of  the  running  now  for  a 
couple  of  thousand  years,"  Mr.  Carlyon  announced  sen- 
tentious^ ;  "  we  have  set  up  a  standard  of  impossibilities 
and  worship  hypocrisy  and  can  no  longer  see  any  truth. 
You  have  got  to  reckon  with  things  as  they  are,  not 
with  what  nature  meant  them  to  be." 

"  Then  you  think  women  are  a  force  now  which  one 
must  consider?  " 

"  I  think  they  are  as  deadly  as  the  deep  sea  — "  and 
Mr.  Carlyon's  voice  was  tense.  "  When  they  have  only 
bodies  they  are  dangerous  enough,  but  when  —  as  many 
of  the  modern  ones  have  —  they  combine  a  modicum  of 
mind  as  well,  with  all  the  cunning  Satan  originally  en- 
dowed them  with  —  then  happy  is  the  man  who  escapes, 
even  partially  whole,  from  their  claws." 

74 


HALCYONE 

"  Whew  — "  whistled  John  Derringham,  "  and  what 
if  they  have  souls?  Not  that  I  personally  admit  that 
such  a  case  exists  —  what  then  ?  " 

"  When  you  meet  a  woman  with  a  soul  you  will  have 
met  your  match,  John,"  the  Professor  said,  and  opening 
his  Times,  which  Demetrius  had  brought  in  with  the 
second  post,  he  closed  the  conversation. 

John  Derringham  strolled  into  the  garden.  The 
place  had  been  greatly  improved  since  Halcyone's  first 
discovery  of  its  new  occupant.  The  shutters  were  all 
a  spruce  green  and  the  paths  weeded  and  tidy,  while  the 
borders  were  full  of  bedded-out  plants  and  flowers.  A 
famous  gardener  from  Upminster  renowned  through  all 
the  West  had  come  over  and  given  his  personal  attention 
to  the  matter,  and  next  year  wonderful  herbaceous  bor- 
ders would  spring  up  on  all  sides.  Mr.  Johnson's  visits 
and  his  council,  though  at  first  resented,  had  at  length 
grown  a  source  of  pure  delight  to  Halcyone ;  she  reveled 
in  the  blooms  of  the  delicate  begonias  and  salvias  and 
other  blossoms  which  she  had  never  seen  before.  Mr. 
Carlyon,  although  desiring  solitude,  appreciated  a 
beautiful  and  cultivated  one,  and  the  orchard  house  was 
now  becoming  a  very  comfortable  bachelor's  home. 

The  day  was  much  cooler  than  it  had  been  of  late. 
There  was  a  fresh  breeze  though  the  sun  shone.  John 
Derringham  wandered  down  to  the  apple  tree  and  thence 
to  the  gap,  and  through  it  and  on  into  the  park.  His 
walk  was  for  pleasure,  and  aimless  as  to  destination, 
and  presently  he  sat  down  under  a  low-spreading  oak 
and  looked  at  the  house  —  La  Sarthe  Chase.     A  beau- 

75 


HALCYONE 

tiful  view  of  it  could  be  obtained  from  there,  and  it  in- 
terested him  —  and  from  that  liis  thoughts  came  to  Hal- 
cyone  and  her  strange,  quaint  little  personality,  and  he 
stretched  himself  out  and  putting  his  hands  under  his 
head  he  looked  up  into  the  dense  foliage  of  the  tree 
above  him  —  and  there  his  eyes  met  two  grave,  quiet 
ones  peering  down  from  a  mass  of  green,  and  he  saw 
slender  brown  legs  drawn  up  on  a  broad  branch,  and  a 
scrap  of  blue  cotton  frock. 

"  Good  morning,"  Halcyone  said  quite  composedly, 
"  don't  make  a  noise,  please,  or  rustle  —  the  mother 
doe  is  just  coming  out  of  the  copse  with  her  new 
fawn." 

"  How  on  earth  did  you  get  up  there?  "  he  asked, 
surprised. 

"  I  swung  myself  from  the  lower  branch  on  the  other 
side;  it  is  quite  easy  —  would  you  like  to  come  up,  too? 
There  is  plenty  of  room  —  and  then  we  could  be  sure  the 
doe  would  not  see  you  and  she  might  peep  out  again. 
I  do  not  wish  to  frighten  her." 

John  Derringham  rose  leisurely  and  went  to  the  fur- 
ther side  of  the  oak,  where  sure  enough  there  was  a 
drooping  branch  and  he  was  soon  up  beside  her,  dan- 
gling his  long  limbs  as  he  sat  in  a  fork. 

"  What  an  enchanting  bower  you  have  found,"  he 
said.     "  Away  from  all  the  world." 

"  No  indeed,  that  cannot  be  at  this  time  of  the  year," 
she  answered.  "  See,  there  is  a  squirrel  far  up  in  the 
top  and  there  are  birds,  and  look  —  down  there  at  the 
roots  there  is  a  rabbit  hole  with  such  a  family  in  it.      It 

76 


HALCYONE 

is  only  in  the  winter  you  can  be  alone  —  and  not  even 
then,  for  you  know  there  are  the  moles  even  if  you 
cannot  see  them." 

"Creatures  are  interesting  to  watch,  aren't  they?" 
he  said.  "  I  have  an  old  place  which  I  loved  when  I 
was  a  boy.  It  is  let  now  because  I  am  too  poor  to  live 
in  it,  but  I  used  to  like  to  prowl  about  in  the  early  morn- 
ings long  ago." 

"  We  are  all  very  poor,"  said  Halcyone  simply,  "  but 
I  am  sorry  for  you  that  you  have  to  let  strangers  be 
in  your  house  —  that  must  be  dreadful." 

John  Derringham  smiled,  and  his  face  lost  the  in- 
souciante  arrogance  which  irritated  his  enemies  so.  His 
smile,  rare  enough,  was  singularly  sweet. 

"  I  don't  think  about  it,"  he  said.  "  It  is  best  not  to 
when  anything  is  disagreeable." 

"  Cheiron  and  I  often  tell  one  another  things  like 
that." 

"  Cheiron  —  who  is  Cheiron?  "  he  asked. 

This  seemed  a  superfluous  question  to  Halcyone. 

"  The  Professor,  of  course.  He  is  just  like  the  pic- 
ture in  my  "  Heroes,'  "  she  answered,  "  and  I  often  pre- 
tend we  are  in  the  cave  on  Pelion.  I  thought  you  would 
perhaps  be  like  one  of  the  others  since  you  were  his 
pupil,  too,  but  I  cannot  find  which.  You  are  not 
Heracles  —  because  you  have  none  of  those  great  mus- 
cles —  or  iEneas  or  Peleus.  Are  —  are  you  Jason  him- 
self, perhaps  — "  and  her  voice  sounded  glad  with  dis- 
covery. "  We  do  not  know,  he  may  not  have  had  a 
Greek  face." 

77 


HALCYONE 

John  Derringham  laughed.  "  Jason  who  led  the  Ar- 
gonauts to  find  the  Golden  Fleece  —  it  is  a  good  omen. 
Would  you  help  me  to  find  the  Golden  Fleece  if  you 
could?" 

"  Yes,  I  would,  if  you  were  good  and  true  —  but  the 
end  of  the  story  was  sad  because  Jason  was  not." 

"  How  must  I  be  good  and  true  then?  I  thought 
Jason  was  a  straight  enough  sort  of  a  fellow  and  that 
it  was  Medea  who  brought  all  the  trouble  —  Medea,  the 
woman." 

Halcyone's  grave  eyes  never  left  his  face.  She  saw 
the  whimsical  twinkle  in  his  but  heeded  it  not. 

"  He  should  not  have  had  anything  to  do  with  Medea 
—  that  is  where  he  was  wrong,"  she  said,  "  but  having 
given  her  liis  word,  he  should  have  kept  it." 

"  Even  though  she  was  a  witch  ?  "  Mr.  Derringham 
asked. 

"  It  was  still  his  word  —  don't  you  see  ?  Her  being  a 
witch  did  not  alter  his  word.  He  did  not  give  it  because 
she  was  or  was  not  a  witch  —  but  because  he  himself 
wanted  to  at  the  time,  I  suppose ;  therefore,  it  was  bind- 
ing." 

"  A  man  should  always  keep  his  word,  even  to  a 
woman,  then  ?  "  and  John  Derringham  smiled  finely. 

"  Wiry  not  to  a  woman  as  well  as  a  man?  "  Halcyone 
asked  surprised.  "  You  do  not  see  the  point  at  all  it 
seems.  It  is  not  to  whom  it  is  you  give  your  word  —  it 
is  to  you  it  matters  that  you  keep  it,  because  to  break  it 
degrades  yourself." 

"  You  reason  well,  fair  nymph,"  he  said  gallantly ;  he 

78 


HALCYONE 

was  frankly  amused.  "  What  may  your  age  be  ?  A 
thousand  years  more  or  less  will  not  make  any  differ- 
ence !  " 

"  You  may  laugh  at  me  if  you  like,"  said  Halcyone, 
and  she  smiled ;  his  gayety  was  infectious,  "  but  I  am 
not  so  very  young.  I  shall  be  thirteen  in  October,  the 
seventh  of  October." 

John  Derringham  appeared  to  be  duly  impressed  with 
this  antiquity,  and  went  on  gravely: 

"  So  you  and  the  Master  discuss  these  knotty  points 
of  honor  and  expediency  together,  do  you,  as  a  recrea- 
tion from  the  Greek  syntax?  I  should  like  to  hear 
you." 

"  The  Professor  does  not  believe  in  men  much,"  Hal- 
cyone said.  "  He  says  they  are  all  honorable  to  one  an- 
other until  they  are  tempted  —  and  that  they  are  never 
honorable  to  a  woman  when  another  woman  comes  upon 
the  scene.  But  I  do  not  know  at  all  about  such  things, 
or  what  it  means.  For  me  there  is  nothing  towards 
other  people;  it  only  is  towards  yourself.  You  must 
be  honorable  to  yourself." 

And  suddenly  it  seemed  to  John  Derringham  as  if  all 
the  paltry  shams  of  the  world  fell  together  like  a  pack 
of  cards,  and  as  if  he  saw  truth  shining  naked  for  the 
first  time  at  the  bottom  of  the  well  of  the  child's  pure 
eyes. 

An  extraordinary  wave  of  emotion  came  over  him, 
finely  strung  as  he  was,  and  susceptible  to  all  grades 
of  feeling.  He  did  not  speak  for  a  minute;  it  was  as 
if  he  had  quaffed  some  elixir.     A  flame  of  noble  fire 

79 


HALCYONE 

seemed  to  run  in  his  veins,  and  his  voice  was  changed 
and  full  of  homage  when  at  last  he  addressed  her. 

"  Little  Goddess  of  Truth,"  he  said,  "  I  would  like  to 
be  with  you  always  that  you  might  never  let  me  forget 
this  point  of  view.  And  you  believe  it  would  have  won 
for  Jason  in  the  end  —  if  he  had  been  true  to  himself? 
Tell  me  —  I  want  greatly  to  know." 

"  But  how  could  there  be  any  doubt  of  that  ?  "  she 
asked  surprised.  "  Good  only  can  bring  good,  and  evil, 
evil." 

At  this  moment,  out  from  the  copse  the  soft  head  of 
a  doe  appeared,  and  at  the  thrilling  sight  Halcyone 
slipped  her  hand  into  her  companion's,  and  held  his  tight 
lest  he  should  move  or  rustle  a  leaf. 

"  See,"  she  whispered  right  in  his  ear.  "  She  will 
cross  to  the  other  side  by  the  stream  —  and  oh !  there  is 
the  fawn!  Is  he  not  the  dearest  baby  angel  you  have 
ever  seen  — !  " 

And  the  doe,  feeling  herself  safe,  trotted  by,  followed 
by  a  minute  son  in  pale  drab  velvet  hardly  a  month  old. 

The  pair  in  the  tree  watched  them  breathlessly  until 
they  had  entered  the  copse  again  beyond  the  bend,  and 
then  Halcyone  said: 

"  That  makes  six  —  and  perhaps  there  are  more. 
Oh!  how  I  hope  the  Long  Man  will  not  see  them  ! ': 

John  Derringham  did  not  let  go  her  hand  at  once; 
there  was  something  soft  and  pleasant  in  the  touch  of 
the  cool  little  fingers. 

"  I  want  to  hear  about  everything,"  he  said.  "  Tell 
me  of  the  Long  Man  —  and  the  fawns,  and  why  there 

80 


HALCYONE 

are  only  six.     I  am  having  the  happiest  morning  I  have 
had  for  years." 

So  Halcyone  began.  She  glossed  a  good  deal  over 
the  facts  she  had  told  Mr.  Carlyon  upon  the  subject 
because  she  did  not  feel  she  knew  this  stranger  well 
enough  to  let  him  into  her  aunts'  private  affairs  —  so 
she  turned  the  interest  to  the  deer  themselves,  and  they 
chatted  on  about  all  sorts  of  animals  and  their  ways, 
and  John  Derringham  was  entranced  and  felt  quite  ag- 
grieved when  she  said  it  was  getting  late  and  she  must 
go  back  to  the  house  for  her  early  dinner.  He  swung 
himself  down  from  the  tree  by  the  high  branch  with 
ease  and  stood  ready  to  catch  her,  but  with  a  nimble- 
ness  he  did  not  expect,  she  crept  round  to  the  lower 
side  and  was  landed  upon  the  soft  turf  before  he  could 
reach  her. 

Then  he  walked  back  with  her  to  the  broken  gate, 
telling  her  about  his  own  old  home  the  while,  and  then 
they  paused  to  say  good-by. 

Halcyone  carried  a  twig  of  freshly  sprouting  oak 
which  she  had  brought  from  the  tree,  having  broken  it 
off  in  her  lightning  descent. 

Give  me  one  leaf  and  you  keep  the  other,"  he  said. 

And  then,  whenever  I  see  it,  I  will  try  to  remember 
that  I  must  always  be  good  and  true." 

With  grave  earnestness  she  did  as  he  asked,  and  then 
opened  the  gate. 

"  I  want  to  tell  you,"  she  said  —  and  she  looked  down 
for  a  second,  and  then  up  into  his  eyes  from  beyond  the 
bars.     "  I  did  not  like  the  thought  of  your  coming  — 

81 


cc 


HALCYONE 

and  at  first  I  did  not  like  you  —  but  now  I  see  something 
quite  different  at  the  other  side  of  your  head  —  Good- 
by." 

And  before  he  could  answer,  she  was  off  as  the  young 
fawn  would  have  been  —  a  flitting  shape  among  the  trees. 
And  John  Derringham  walked  slowly  back  to  the  or- 
chard house,  musing  as  he  went. 

But  when  he  got  there  a  telegram  from  his  Chief  had 
arrived,  recalling  him  instantly  to  London. 

And  he  did  not  see  Halcyone  again  for  several  years. 


CHAPTER  IX 

M^fc-^HE  seasons  came  and  went  with  peaceful  regu- 
■  *  J  larity,  unbroken  by  a  jarring  note  from  the 
^^^^r  outside  world.  Mr.  Anderton,  being  well  as- 
sured by  the  Misses  La  Sarthe  that  his  stepdaughter 
was  receiving  a  splendid  education,  was  only  too  glad 
to  leave  her  in  peace,  and  Mrs.  Anderton  felt  her  duty 
achieved  when  at  the  beginning  of  each  summer  and 
winter  she  sent  a  supply  of  what  she  considered  suitable 
clothes.  It  took  Priscilla  and  Hester  hours  to  alter  them 
to  Halcyone's  slender  shape. 

Mr.  Carlyon  was  seldom  absent  from  his  house  dur- 
ing this  period,  only  twice  a  year,  when  he  spent  a 
fortnight  in  London  in  June,  and  another  week  in  No- 
vember with  his  brother,  a  squire  of  some  note  in  the 
Cornish  world.  Halcyone  made  green  his  old  age  with 
the  exquisite  quality  of  her  opening  mind.  And  deep 
down  in  her  heart  there  always  dwelt  the  image  of  John 
Derringham,  and  whatever  new  hero  she  read  about,  he 
unconsciously  assumed  some  of  his  features  or  mien. 
She  passed  through  enthusiasms  for  all  periods,  and  for 
quite  six  months  was  under  the  complete  spell  of  the 
"  Morte  d' Arthur  "  and  the  adventures  of  the  knights 
contained  therein.  She  read  voraciously  and  systematic- 
ally, but  her  first  love  for  all  things  Greek  regained  its 

83 


HALCYONE 

hold  and  undoubtedly  colored  her  whole  view  of  life. 

Her  education  was  exotic  and  might  have  ruined  a 
brain  of  lesser  fiber.  But  for  her  it  seemed  to  bring 
forth  all  that  was  clear  and  fine  and  polish  it  with  a  dia- 
mond luster.  Twice  a  week  alternately  the  French  and 
German  master  from  the  Applewood  Grammar  School 
came  to  her,  and  she  also  learned  to  read  music  from  the 
organist  at  the  church,  and  then  played  to  herself  with 
no  teclmique  but  much  taste. 

And  of  all  her  masters,  Nature  and  the  fearless  study 
of  her  night  moods  molded  her  soul  the  most. 

For  the  first  few  months  after  John  Derringham's 
visit  Mr.  Carlyon  often  spoke  of  him  and  read  aloud  bits 
of  his  letters,  and  Haley  one  listened  with  rapt  atten- 
tion, but  she  never  embarked  upon  the  subject  herself 
—  and  then  the  Professor  had  an  accident  to  his  knee 
which  kept  him  a  prisoner  for  months.  And  some- 
how the  interest  of  this  seemed  to  dwarf  less  present 
things,  and  as  time  went  on,  John  Derringham  grew 
to  be  mentioned  only  by  fits  and  starts,  when  his  rapidly 
rising  political  career  called  forth  cynical  grunts  of 
admiration  from  his  old  master.  There  had  been  a 
dissolution  of  Parliament  and  a  short  term  of  office 
for  the  other  side,  and  then  at  the  General  Election 
John  Derringham's  Chief  had  come  in  again  stronger 
than  ever,  and  he  himself  had  been  made  Under-Sec- 
retary of  State  for  Foreign  Affairs.  It  was  a  tre- 
mendous rise  for  one  so  young.  He  was  at  that  time 
not  more  than  twenty-nine  years  old  —  but  two  years  be- 
fore this  happened,  when  Halcyone  was  about  fifteen,  he 

84 


HALCYONE 

came  again  to  the  orchard  house  for  a  short  Saturday  to 
Monday  visit. 

From  the  moment  that  she  knew  he  was  coming  a 
strange  stillness  seemed  to  fall  upon  the  child.  She 
had  grown  long-legged  and  was  at  the  fledgling  stage 
when  even  a  pretty  girl  sometimes  looks  plain,  and  she, 
who  had  as  yet  no  claim  to  beauty,  was  at  her  worst. 
She  was  quite  aware  of  it,  with  her  intense  soul-worship 
of  all  beautiful  things.  Some  unreasoned  impulse  made 
her  keep  away  from  her  master  during  the  first  day, 
but  on  the  Sunday  he  summoned  her,  and,  as  once  be- 
fore, she  came  and  poured  out  the  tea,  but  it  was  a 
cold  and  windy  autumn  afternoon,  and  it  was  not  laid 
out  of  doors.  John  Derringham  had  been  for  a  walk, 
and  came  in  while  she  sat  in  a  shadowy  corner  behind 
the  table,  teapot  in  hand. 

He  was  greatly  changed,  she  thought,  in  the  three 
years.  He  had  grown  a  beard!  and  looked  considera- 
bly older,  with  his  thin  commanding  figure  and  ar- 
rogant head.  He  was  not  handsome  now,  but  peculiarly 
distinguished-looking.  He  could  very  well  be  Pericles, 
she  decided  at  once.  As  for  him,  he  had  almost  for- 
gotten her.  Life  had  been  so  full  of  many  things; 
but,  seeing  a  pale,  slender,  overgrown  girl  with  mouse- 
colored  clouds  of  hair  now  confined  in  a  demure  pig- 
tail, it  came  to  his  mind  that  this  must  be  the  Pro- 
fessor's pupil  again.  Had  she  not  been  called  Hebe  or 
Psyche  —  or  Halcyone  —  some  Greek  name  ?  And 
gradually  his  former  recollection  of  her  came  back,  and 
of  their  morning  in  the  tree. 

85 


HALCYONE 

"  Why,  how  do  you  do,"  he  said  politely,  and  Hal- 
cyone  bowed  without  speaking.  She  felt  much  as  Hans 
Andersen's  Ugly  Duckling  used  to  feel,  and  when  John 
Derringham  had  said  a  few  ordinary  things  about  her 
having  grown  out  of  all  likeness,  he  turned  to  the  Pro- 
fessor again,  and  almost  forgot  her  presence. 

His  talk  was  most  wonderful  to  listen  to,  she  thought, 
his  language  was  so  polished,  and  there  was  a  courtesy 
added  to  the  former  vehemence.  They  spoke  of  noth- 
ing but  politics,  which  she  did  not  understand,  and  Chei- 
ron  chaffed  him  a  good  deal  in  his  kindly  cynical  way. 
He  was  still  fighting  his  chimeras,  it  seemed,  and  fight- 
ing them  successfully.  As  he  spoke,  Halcyone,  behind 
the  teapot,  thrilled  with  a  kind  of  worship.  To  be 
strong  and  young  and  manful,  and  to  combat  modern 
dragons,  appeared  to  her  to  be  a  god-like  task. 

In  the  midst  of  a  heated  argument  she  rose  to  slip 
away.  Her  comings  and  goings  were  so  natural  to  the 
Professor  that  he  was  unaware  that  she  was  leaving 
the  room  until  John  Derringham  broke  off  in  the  mid- 
dle of  a  sentence,  to  rise  and  open  the  door  for  her. 

"  Good-by,"  she  said.  "  Aunt  Roberta  is  not  very 
well  to-day,  so  I  must  not  be  late.  Good  night, 
Cheiron  " —  and  she  went  out  and  closed  the  door. 

"  But  it  is  quite  dark !  "  exclaimed  John  Derringham. 
"  Is  there  a  servant  waiting?     She  can't  go  all  alone! ': 

The  Professor  leaned  back  in  his  chair. 

"  Don't  disturb  yourself,"  he  said.  "  Halcyone  is 
accustomed  to  the  twilight.  It  is  a  strange  night-crea- 
ture —  leave  it  alone." 

86 


H ALCYONE 

John  Derringhara  sat  down  again. 

"  She  is  not  nearly  so  attractive-looking  as  she  used 
to  be.  If  I  remember,  she  was  rather  a  weirdly  pretty 
child." 

"  Just  a  chrysalis  now,"  grunted  the  professor  be- 
twen  puffs  of  smoke.  "  But  there  is  more  true  phi- 
losophy and  profound  knowledge  of  truth  in  that  little 
head  than  either  you  or  I  have  got  in  ours,  John." 

"  You  always  thought  the  world  of  her,  Master  — 
you,  with  your  ineradicable  contempt  for  women !  " 

"  She  is  not  a  woman  —  yet.  She  is  an  intelligence 
and  a  brain  —  and  a  soul." 

"  Oh,  she  has  a  soul,  then ! "  and  John  Derringham 
smiled.  "  I  remember  once  you  said  when  I  should 
meet  a  woman  with  a  soul  I  should  meet  my  match !  I 
do  not  feel  very  alarmed." 

One  of  the  Professor's  penthouse  brows  raised  itself 
about  half  an  inch,  but  he  did  not  speak. 

"  In  which  school  have  you  taught  her  ?  "  John  Der- 
ringham asked  — "  you  who  are  so  much  of  a  cynic, 
Master.  Does  she  study  the  ethics  of  Aristotle  with 
you  here  in  this  Lyceum,  or  do  you  reconstruct  Plato's 
Academy?  She  is  no  sophist,  apparently,  since  you 
say  she  can  see  the  truth." 

Mr.  Carlyon  looked  into  the  fire. 

"  She  is  almost  an  Epicurean,  John,  in  all  but  the 
disbelief  in  the  immortality  of  the  soul.  She  has 
evolved  a  theory  of  her  own  about  that.  It  partakes 
of  Buddhism.  After  I  have  discussed  metaphysical 
propositions  with  her  over  which  she  will  argue  clearly, 
7  87 


HALCYONE 

she  will  suddenly  cut  the  whole  knot  with  a  lightning 
flash,  and  you  see  the  naked  truth,  and  words  become 
meaningless,  and  discussion  a  jest." 

"  All  this,  at  fifteen !  "  John  Derringham  laughed 
antagonistically,  and  then  he  suddenly  remembered  her 
words  to  himself  upon  honor  in  the  tree  that  summer 
morning  three  years  ago,  and  he  mused. 

Perhaps  some  heaven-taught  beings  were  allowed  to 
come  to  earth  after  all,  now  and  then  as  the  centuries 
rolled  on. 

"  She  knows  Greek  pretty  well?  "  he  asked. 

"  Fairly,  for  the  time  she  has  learnt.  She  can  read 
me  bits  of  Lucian.  She  would  stumble  over  the  trag- 
edies. I  read  them  to  her."  Then  he  continued,  as 
though  it  were  a  subject  he  loved,  "  She  has  a  con- 
crete view  upon  every  question;  her  critical  faculty  is 
marvelous.  She  never  lays  down  the  law,  but  if  you 
ask  her,  you  have  your  answer  in  a  nutshell,  the  simplest 
truth,  which  it  always  appears  to-  her  so  strange  that 
you  have  not  seen  all  the  time." 

"  What  is  her  parentage  ?  Heredity  plays  so  large  a 
part  in  these  things,"  Mr.  Derringham  asked. 

"  The  result  of  a  passionate  love-match  between  dis- 
tant cousins  of  that  fine  old  race,  I  believe.  Timothy 
La  Sarthe  was  at  Oxford  before  your  day,  but  not 
under  me  —  a  brilliant,  enchanting  fellow,  drowned 
while  yachting  when  my  little  friend^was  only  a  few 
months  old." 

"And  the  mother?" 

"  Married  again  to  pay  his'debts,  to  a  worthy  stock- 

88 


HALCYONE 

broker,  almost  immediately,  I  believe.  She  paid  the 
debt  with  herself  and  died  after  having  three  children 
for  him  in  a  few  years." 

"  So  your  portegee  lives  with  those  cameos  of  the 
Victorian  era  we  dined  Avith,  and  never  sees  the  outside 
world?" 

"  Never  —  from  one  year's  end  to  another." 

"  What  a  fate !  "  and  John  Derringham  stretched  out 
his  arms.     "  Ye  gods,  what  a  fate !  " 

And  again  Cheiron  smiled,  raising  his  bushy  left 
brow. 

Halcyone,  meanwhile,  was  walking  with  firm  certain 
steps  across  the  park,  where  the  dusk  had  fallen.  The 
turbulent  Boreas  blew  in  her  face,  and  she  stopped 
and  took  off  her  soft  cap  and  unplaited  her  hair  so  that 
it  flew  out  in  a  cloud  as  the  wind  rushed  through  it. 
This  sensation  was  a  great  pleasure  to  her,  and  when 
she  came  to  a  rising  ground,  a  kind  of  knoll  where  the 
view  of  the  country  was  vast  and  superb,  she  paused 
again  and  took  in  great  deep  breaths.  She  was  draw- 
ing all  the  forces  of  the  air  into  her  being  and  quivered 
presently  with  the  joy  of  it. 

She  could  see  as  only  those  who  are  accustomed  to 
the  dark  can.  She  was  aware  of  all  the  outlines  of 
golden  bracken  at  her  feet  and  the  head  of  a  buck 
peeping  from  the  copse  near.  The  sky  was  a  passion- 
ate, tempestuous  mass  of  angry  clouds  scudding  over  the 
deep  blue,  where  an  evening  star  could  be  seen  peeping 
out. 

"  Bring  me  your  force  and  strength,  that  I  may  grow 

89 


HALCYON E 

noble  and  beautiful,  dear  wind,"  she  said  aloud.  "  I 
want  to  be  near  him  when  he  comes  again,"  and  then 
she  ran  and  j  umped  the  uneven  places,  while  she  hummed 
a  strange  song. 

And  Jeb  Hart  and  Joseph  Gubbs,  the  poachers,  saw 
her,  as  she  passed  within  a  yard  of  where  they  lay  setting 
their  snares,  and  Gubbs,  who  was  a  good  Catholic  from 
Upminster,  crossed  himself  as  he  muttered  in  his  friend's 
ear: 

"  We'll  get  no  swag  to-night,  Jeb.  When  she  passes, 
blest  if  she  don't  warn  the  beasts." 


CHAPTER  X 

^-m-^HEN  Halcyone  was  nearly  nineteen  and  had 
W  j  grown  into  a  rare  and  radiant  maiden,  the  like 
VA^  OI>  whom  it  would  be  difficult  to  find,  an  event 
happened  which  was  of  the  greatest  excitement  and 
importance  to  the  neighborhood.  Wendover,  which  had 
been  shut  up  for  twenty  years,  was  reported  to  have 
been  taken  for  a  term  by  a  very  rich  widow  —  or  di- 
vorcee —  from  America  it  was  believed,  and  it  was  go- 
ing to  be  sumptuously  done  up  and  would  be  filled  with 
guests.  Mr.  Miller  took  pains  to  find  out  every  detail 
from  the  Long  Man  at  Applewood,  and  so  was  full  of 
information  at  his  monthly  repast  with  the  old  ladies. 
Mrs.  Vincent  Cricklander  was  the  new  tenant's  name. 
The  Long  Man  had  himself  taken  her  over  the  place 
when  she  first  came  down  to  look  at  it,  and  his  report 
was  that  she  was  the  most  beautiful  lady  he  had  ever 
seen,  and  with  an  eye  to  business  that  could  not  be 
beaten.     He  held  her  in  vast  respect. 

Then  Mr.  Miller  coughed;  he  had  now  come  to  the 
point  of  his  discourse  which  made  him  nervous. 

For  he  had  learned  beyond  the  possibility  of  any 
doubt  that  Mrs.  Cricklander  was,  alas!  not  a  lonely 
widow  but  had  been  divorced  —  only  a  year  or  two 
ago.     She  had  divorced  her  husband  —  not  he  her  — 

91 


HALCYONE 

he  hastened  to  add,  and  then  coughed  again  and  got 
very  red. 

"  When  we  were  young,"  Miss  La  Sarthe  remarked 
severely,  "  our  Mamma  would  never  have  allowed  us 
to  know  any  divorced  person  —  and,  indeed,  our  good 
Queen  Victoria  would  never  have  received  one  at  her 
Court.     We  cannot  possibly  call,  Roberta." 

Poor  Miss  Roberta's  face  fell.  She  had  been  se- 
cretly much  elated  by  the  thoughts  of  a  neighbor,  and 
to  have  all  her  hopes  thus  nipped  in  the  bud  was  pain- 
ful. She  had  heard  (from  Hester  again,  it  is  to  be 
feared!)  that  Mrs.  Cricklander's  maid,  who  was  a  cousin 
of  the  baker  in  Applewood,  and  who  had  originally  insti- 
gated her  discovery  of  Wendover,  had  said  that  her 
lady  knew  all  the  greatest  people  in  England  —  lords 
and  duchesses  by  the  dozen,  and  even  an  archbishop ! 
Surely  that  was  respectable  enough. 

But  Miss  La  Sarthe,  while  again  deploring  the  source 
of  her  sister's  information,  was  firm.  Ideas  might  have 
changed,  but  they  had  not.  Since  the  last  time  they 
had  curtsied  to  the  beloved  late  Queen,  in  about  1879, 
she  believed  new  rules  had  been  made,  but  the  La  Sarthe 
had  nothing  to  do  with  such  things ! 

Halcyone  caught  Miss  Roberta's  piteous,  subdued 
eye,  and  smiled  a  tender,  kind  smile.  With  years  her 
understanding  of  her  ancient  aunts  had  grown.  They 
were  no  longer  rather  contemptible,  narrow-minded  elders 
in  her  eyes,  but  rilled  her  with  a  pitiful  and  gentle  re- 
spect. Their  courage  under  adversity,  their  firm  self- 
control,  and  the  force  which  made  them  live  up  to  their 

92 


HALCYONE 

idea  of  the  fitness  of  things,  appealed  to  her  strongly. 
She  had  John  Derringham's  quality  of  detached  con- 
sideration, and  appreciated  her  old  relatives  as  exquisite 
relics  of  the  past,  as  well  as  her  own  kith  and  kin. 

"  In  America,  divorce  is  not  considered  the  heinous 
crime  it  was  once  in  England,"  Mr.  Carlyon  said. 
"  Perhaps  this  lady  may  have  been  greatly  sinned 
against  and  deserves  all  our  pity  and  regard." 

But  Miss  La  Sarthe  remained  obdurate.  The  point 
was  not  as  to  who  was  in  the  right,  she  explained,  but 
that  certain  conventions,  laid  down  by  one  whose  mem- 
ory was  revered,  had  been  outraged,  and  she  could  never 
permit  her  sister  or  Halcyone  to  have  any  intercourse 
with  the  tenant  of  Wendover  Park ! 

The  preparations  for  the  new  arrival  went  on  apace 
all  the  autumn  and  winter.  Armies  of  workpeople  were 
reported  to  be  in  possession,  and  whole  train-loads  of 
splendid  French  furniture  were  known  to  have  arrived 
at  Applewood,  to  augment  the  antique  and  time-worn 
pieces  which  were  Wendover's  own. 

Miss  Le  Sarthe  sent  for  the  Long  Man.  Things  had 
been  rather  better  of  late,  and  no  more  precious  be- 
longings had  been  forced  to  be  parted  with.  An  in- 
vestment which  had  been  valueless  for  years  now  began 
to  produce  some  interest  which  wTas  a  great  comfort, 
for  Miss  La  Sarthe  was  now  seventy-nine  and  Miss 
Roberta  seventy-six. 

The  orders  that  the  agent  received  were  precise.  The 
gate  between  Wendover  and  La  Sarthe  Chase  which 
had  been  closed  for  over  a  hundred  years  was  to  be 

93 


H  A  L  C  Y  O  N  E 

boarded  up,  and  their  side  of  the  haw-haw  which  for 
nearly  a  mile  divided  the  two  parks  was  to  be  deepened 
and  cleared  out,  and  the  spikes  mended  in  any  places 
where  the  ground  might  have  seemed  to  have  fallen  in 
sufficiently,  or  the  irons  to  have  become  broken  enough 
to  make  the  passage  easy. 

This  would  be  unnecessary,  Mr.  Martin  (the  Long 
Man)  told  her.  The  haw-haw  was  still  as  perfect  as 
ever  and  a  wonder  of  concealed  traps  for  the  unwary, 
but  the  gate  should  be  seen  to  at  once. 

Thus  La  Sarthe  Chase  was  armed  fully  against  Wend- 
over,  when,  about  Easter,  Mrs.  Cricklander  decided  she 
would  come  down  and  bring  a  few  friends.  It  was 
with  a  sudden  violent  beating  of  the  heart  that  Halcyone 
learned  casually  from  Mr.  Carlyon  that  John  Derring- 
ham  would  be  of  their  number. 

The  aunts  took  in  the  Morning  Post,  but  until  she 
was  eighteen  they  had  rigorously  forbidden  Halcyone's 
perusal  of  it.  Newspapers,  except  one  or  two  periodi- 
cals, were  not  fit  for  young  ladies'  reading  until  they 
were  grown  up,  they  felt.  However,  their  niece,  hav- 
ing now  come  to  years  of  discretion,  sometimes  had 
the  pleasure  of  reading  John  Derringham's  speeches 
and  thrilled  with  joy  over  his  felicitous  daring  and 
caustic  wit.  The  Government  could  not  last  much 
longer,  but  he  at  least,  as  far  as  he  could,  would  keep 
it  full  of  vigor  until  the  end.  She  knew,  therefore, 
that  the  last  sitting  before  the  Easter  recess  had  been 
a  storm  of  words  sharp  as  sword-thrusts  —  it  was  be- 
fore   the   days    of  the   language    of   Billingsgate    and 

94 


HALCYONE 

the  behavior  of  roughs.  There  were  quite  a  number  of 
gentlemen  still  in  the  House  of  Commons,  who  often 
behaved  as  such. 

Those  wonderful  forces  which  Halcyone  culled  from 
all  nature,  and  especially  the  night,  gave  her  a  serenity 
over  the  most  moving  events,  and  when  the  sudden 
beating  of  her  heart  was  over,  she  waited  calmly  for 
the  moment  when  she  should  see  John  Derringham  again. 

Mr.  Carlyon  took  in  the  Graphic  as  well  as  his 
Quarterly  Review  and  the  Nineteenth  Century,  and  it 
was  her  only  medium  for  guessing  even  what  the  out- 
side world  looked  like,  but  from  it  she  was  quite  aware 
that  a  beard  was  a  most  unusual  thing  for  a  young 
modern  man  of  the  world,  and  that  John  Derringham 
for  that  reason  must  always  be  distinguished  from  his 
fellows.  Carpenters  and  hedgers  and  ditchers  wore 
them,  and  nondescript  young  fellows  she  remembered 
seeing  when  she  went  into  Upminster  with  her  aunts ; 
but  these  excursions  had  been  discontinued  now  for 
the  past  five  years,  so  the  villagers  of  Sarthe-under- 
Crum  and  the  denizens  of  the  rather  larger  Applewood 
were  the  only  human  beings  she  ever  saw. 

The  partjr  at  Wendover  were  to  arrive  on  the  Thurs- 
day before  Good  Friday  —  Priscilla  had  told  her  that  — 
and  it  was  just  possible  that  some  of  them  might  be  in 
church. 

The  aunts  now  drove  a  low  basket  shay  which  had 
been  their  pride  in  the  sixties,  but  which  for  countless 
years,  until  the  investment  began  to  pay,  they  had 
been  unable  to  keep  a  pair  of  ponies  for.     Now,  how- 

95 


HALCYONE 

ever,  the  shay  was  unearthed  from  the  moldy  coach- 
house and  for  the  past  year  two  very  old  and  quiet 
specimens  of  Shetland  had  been  found  for  them  by 
Mr.  Martin  and  they  were  able  to  drive  to  church  every 
Sunday  in  state,  William  sitting  up  behind,  holding 
the  reins  between  his  mistresses,  while  Miss  La  Sarthe 
flourished  a  small  whip  whose  delicate  handle  was  studded 
with  minute  turquoises.  From  it  dangled  a  ring  which 
she  could  slip  on  her  finger  over  her  one-buttoned  slate- 
colored  glove,  and  so  feel  certain  of  not  dropping  this 
treasure.     Halcyone  always  walked. 

On  Good  Friday  there  was  not  a  sight  of  the  Wend- 
over  party  in  church,  and  Halcyone  went  back  by  the 
orchard  house  to  look  in  at  Cheiron,  who  had  had  a  cold 
in  the  last  few  days. 

Stretched  in  the  armchair  she  found  John  Derring- 
ham. 

The  brisk  walk  in  the  fresh  spring  air  had  brought 
some  faint  color  to  her  pale  cheeks,  her  soft  hair  was 
wound  about  her  head  with  becoming  simplicity,  and 
she  wore  an  ordinary  suit  which  could  not  disguise  her 
beautiful  slender  limbs,  so  long  and  thin,  a  veritable 
Artemis  in  her  chaste  perfection  of  balance  and  propor- 
tion. 

Halcyone  could  pass  in  any  crowd  and  perhaps  no 
one  would  ever  notice  her  and  her  mouse-like  coloring, 
but  once  your  eye  was  arrested,  then,  like  looking  at 
some  rare  bit  of  delicate  enamel,  you  began  to  perceive 
undreamed-of  graces  which  soothed  the  sight  until  you 
were  filled  with  the  consciousness  of  an  exquisite  beauty 

96 


HALCYONE 

as  intangible  as  her  other  charm  —  distinction.  An 
infinite  serenity  was  in  her  atmosphere,  a  promise  of  all 
pure  and  tender  things  in  her  great  soft  eyes.  The 
mystery  and  freshness  of  the  night  seemed  always  to 
hang  about  her.  Her  ways  were  noiseless  —  the  most 
creaking  door  appeared  to  forget  its  irritating  habit 
when  under  her  touch.  Thus  it  was  that  John  Derring- 
ham,  smoking  a  cigar,  never  even  glanced  up  until  a 
voice  of  extreme  cultivation  and  softness  said  gently : 

"  Good  morning.     And  how  are  you?  " 

Then  he  bounded  from  his  chair,  startled  a  little, 
and  held  out  his  hand. 

"  My  old  friend,  Miss  Halcyone,  the  Priestess  of 
Truth !  "  he  exclaimed,  "  as  I  am  alive !  " 

She  smiled  serenely  while  they  shook  hands,  and  sat 
down  demurely  by  the  Professor's  side. 

"  I  thought  you  would  have  been  translated  to  Olym- 
pus long  ago,"  the  visitor  said.  "  Have  you  honored 
this  ordinary  earth  and  our  friend  Cheiron's  cave,  ever 
since?  " 

"  Ever  since !  " 

"  There  can  be  nothing  left  for  you  to  learn.  Mas- 
ter, it  is  you  and  I  whom  she  could  teach,"  he  laughed. 

"  How  do  you  know  all  this  ? "  asked  Halcyone 
quietly,  while  her  eyes  smiled  at  his  raillery.  "  Do  I 
look  such  an  old-fashioned  blue-stocking,  then?" 

"  You  look  perfectly  sweet,"  and  John  Derringham's 
expressive  eyes  confirmed  what  he  said. 

"  Enough,  enough,  John.  Halcyone  is  quite  unac- 
customed to  gallants  from  the  world  like  you,"  the  Pro- 

97 


H  A  L  C  Y  O  N  E 

fessor  growled.  "  If  you  pay  her  compliments  she 
won't  believe  you  can  really  make  a  speech." 

So  Mr.  Derringham  laughed  and  continued  his  in- 
terrupted conversation.  He  seemed  in  good  humor  with 
all  the  world.  He  was  going  to  stay  at  Wendover  for 
the  whole  of  Easter  week.  Mrs.  Cricklander  had  an 
amusing  party  of  luminaries  of  both  sides  —  she  was 
the  most  perfect  hostess  and  had  a  remarkable  talent 
for  collecting  the  right  people. 

"  She  is  quite  the  best-read  woman  I  have  ever  met, 
Master,"  John  Derringham  said.  "  You  must  let  me 
bring  her  over  here  one  day  to  see  you  —  you  would  de- 
light in  her  wit  and  beauty.  She  does  not  leave  you  a 
dull  moment." 

"  Yes,  bring  her,"  the  Professor  returned  between 
the  puffs  at  his  long  pipe.  "  I  have  never  met  any 
of  these  new  hothouse  roses  grafted  upon  briar  roots. 
I  should  like  to  study  how  the  system  has  worked." 

"  Quite  admirably,  as  you  will  see.  I  do  not  know 
any  Englishwomen  who  are  to  compare  to  such  Ameri- 
cans in  brilliancy  and  fascination." 

Over  Halcyone,  in  spite  of  her  serenity,  there  crept 
a  feeling  of  cold.  She  did  not  then  analyze  why,  and, 
as  was  her  habit  when  anything  began  to  distress  her, 
she  looked  out  of  the  window,  whether  it  were  night  or 
day.  She  always  did  this,  and  when  her  eyes  saw  Na- 
ture in  any  of  her  moods,  calm  returned  to  her. 

"  She  will  simply  revel  in  La  Sarthe  Chase  when 
she  sees  it,"  Mr.  Derringham  went  on,  now  addressing 
Halcyone.     "  She  is   a   past-mistress   in   knowledge   of 

98 


HALCYONE 

the  dates  of  things.  You  are  going  to  have  the  most 
delicious  neighbor,  Miss  Halcyone,  and  in  learning,  a 
foeman  worthy  of  your  steel." 

Cheiron  was  heard  to  chuckle  wickedly,  and  when 
his  former  Oxford  pupil  asked  him  with  mild  humor 
the  reason  of  his  inappropriate  mirth,  he  answered 
dryly : 

"  She  is  never  likely  to  see  the  inside  of  the  park 
even.  Queen  Victoria  did  not  receive  divorced  per- 
sons, and  the  Misses  La  Sarthe,  in  consequence,  cannot 
either.  You  will  have  to  bring  her  here  by  the  road, 
John!" 

Halcyone  winced  a  little.  She  disliked  this  conver- 
sation; it  was  not  as  fine  as  she  liked  to  think  were 
the  methods  of  both  the  men  who  were  carrying  it  on. 

John  Derringham  reddened  up  to  his  temples,  where 
there  were  a  few  streaks  of  gray  in  his  dark  hair  which 
added  to  the  distinction  of  his  finely  cut,  rather  ascetic 
face.  The  short,  well-trimmed  beard  was  very  becom- 
ing, Halcyone  thought,  and  gave  him  a  look  of  great 
masculinity  and  strength.  His  hawk's  eyes  were  shad- 
owed, as  though  he  sat  up  very  late  at  night ;  which 
indeed  he  did.  For  John  Derringham,  at  this  period  of 
his  life,  burnt  the  candle  at  both  ends  and  in  the  mid- 
dle, too,  if  it  could  add  to  the  pleasure  or  benefit  of 
his  calculated  career,  mapped  out  for  himself  by  him- 
self. 

A  sensation  almost  of  wrath  rose  in  his  breast  at 
his  old  master's  words.  These  ignorant  country  peo- 
ple, to  dare  to  criticise  his  glittering  golden  pheasant, 

99 


HALCYONE 

whom  he  was  very  nearly  making  up  his  mind  to  take 
for  a  wife!  This  aspect  of  the  case,  that  even  these 
unimportant  old  ladies  could  question  the  position  of 
his  choice,  galled  him.  He  had  spent  up  to  the  last 
penny  of  his  diminished  income  in  his  years  of  man's 
estate,  and  Derringham  was  mortgaged  to  its  furthest 
acre  —  and  a  gentleman  must  live  —  and  with  his  bril- 
liant political  future  expanding  before  him,  lack  of 
means  must  not  be  allowed  to  stand  in  his  way.  He 
would  give  this  woman  in  gratified  ambition  as  much  or 
more  than  she  would  give  him  in  wealth,  so  it  would  be  an 
equal  bargain  and  benefit  them  both.  And,  above  all,  he 
was  more  than  half  in  love  with  her,  and  could  get  quite 
a  large  share  of  pleasure  out  of  the  affair  as  well. 
He  had  been  too  busy  to  trouble  much  over  women  as 
a  sex  since  he  had  left  the  University  —  except  in  the 
way  he  had  once  described  to  his  old  master,  regarding 
them  as  flowers  in  a  garden  —  mere  pleasures  for 
sight  and  touch,  and  experiencing  ephemeral  passions 
which  left  no  mark.  But  women  either  feared  or 
adored  him ;  and  this  woman,  the  desired  of  a  host  of 
his  friends,  had  singled  him  out  for  her  especial  favors. 
It  had  amused  .him  the  whole  of  the  last  season ;  he  had 
defied  her  efforts  to  chain  him  to  her  chariot  wheels, 
and  in  the  winter  she  had  gone  to  Egypt,  and  had  only 
just  returned.  But  the  charm  was  growing,  and  he 
felt  he  would  allow  himself  to  be  caught  in  her  net. 

"  Mrs.  Cricklander  would  be  very  much  amused  could 
she  hear  this  verdict  of  the  county,"  he  said  with  a 
certain  tone  in  his  voice  which  did  not  escape  Halcyone. 

100 


HALCYONE 

"  In  London  we  do  not  occupy  ourselves  with  such 
unimportant  things  —  but  I  dare  say  she  will  get  over 
it.  And  now  I  really  must  be  going  back.  May  I  walk 
with  you  through  the  park,  Miss  Halcyone,  if  you 
are  going,  too?  I  am  sure  there  must  be  an  opening 
somewhere,  as  the  two  places  touch." 

"Yes,  there  is  just  one,"  Halcyone  said.  "The 
haw-haw  runs  the  whole  way,  and  it  is  impossible  to 
pass,  except  in  the  one  spot,  and  I  believe  no  one 
knows  of  it  but  myself.  There  are  a  few  bricks  loose, 
and  I  used  to  take  them  out  and  put  them  back  when  I 
wanted  to  get  into  Wendover  —  long  ago." 

"  Then  it  will  be  an  adventure ;  come,"  he  said,  and 
Halcyone  rose. 

"  Only  if  you  will  not  give  away  my  secret.  Promise 
you  will  not  tell  anyone  else,"  she  bargained. 

"Oh!  I  promise,"  and  John  Derringham  jumped  up 
—  his  movements  were  always  quick  and  decided  and 
full  of  nervous  force.  "  I  will  bring  my  hostess  to  see 
you  on  Monday  or  Tuesday,  Master,"  he  announced, 
as  he  said  good-by.  "  And  prepare  yourself  to  fall  at 
her  feet  like  all  the  rest  of  us  —  Merlin  and  Vivien,  you 
know.  It  will  be  a  just  punishment  for  your  scathing 
remarks." 

When  they  were  outside  in  the  garden  Halcyone  spoke 
not  a  word.  The  beds  were  a  glory  of  spring  bulbs, 
and  every  bud  on  the  trees  was  bursting  with  its  promise 
of  coming  leaf.  Glad,  chirruping  bird-notes  called  to 
one  another,  and  a  couple  of  partridges  ran  across  the 
lawn. 

101 


HALCYONE 

John  Derringham  took  in  the  lines  of  Halcyone's 
graceful  person  as  she  walked  ahead.  She  had  that 
same  dignity  of  movement  from  the  hips  which  the 
Nike  of  Samothrace  seems  to  be  advancing  with  as  you 
come  up  the  steps  of  the  Louvre. 

How  tall  she  had  grown !  She  must  be  at  least  five 
feet  nine  or  ten.     But  why  would  she  not  speak? 

He  overawed  her  here  in  the  daylight,  and  she  felt 
silent  and  oppressed. 

"  Whereabouts  is  our  tree  that  we  sat  in  when  I  was 
young  and  you  were  old?  "  he  asked,  after  they  had 
got  through  the  gap  in  the  hedge.  A  little  gate  had 
been  put  in  the  last  years  to  keep  out  the  increasing 
herd  of  deer. 

"  It  is  over  there  by  the  copse,"  she  said  shyly. 
"  The  lower  branch  fell  last  winter,  and  it  makes  a  de- 
lightful seat.  One  is  not  obliged  to  climb  into  the 
tree  now.  See:  Demetrius  helped  me  to  drag  it  close, 
and  we  nailed  on  these  two  arms,"  and  she  pointed  to  a 
giant  oak  not  far  from  them,  which  John  Derringham 
pretended  to  recognize. 

He  tried  his  best  to  get  her  to  talk  to  him,  but  some 
cloud  of  timid  aloofness  on  her  part  seemed  to  hang 
between  them,  and  very  soon  below  the  copse  they  came 
to  the  one  vulnerable  part  in  all  the  haw-haw's  length. 
She  showed  him  how  to  take  the  bricks  out  and  where 
to  place  his  feet,  and  pointed  out  how  secluded  from 
any  eye  the  place  was.  Then,  as  he  climbed  down  and 
then  up  again,  and  looked  across  at  her  from  Wend- 
over  lands,  she  said  a  sedate  good-by,  and  turning,  went 

102 


HALCYONE 

on  among  the  thickly   growing  saplings  of  the   copse 
and,  never  looking  back,  was  soon  out  of  sight. 

John    Derringham    watched    her    disappear    with    a 
strange  feeling  of  ruffled  disquietude  in  his  heart. 


CHAPTER  XI 

XT  was  so  warm  and  charming  an  April  day 
that  Mrs.  Cricklander  and  some  of  her  friends 
were  out  of  doors  before  luncheon,  walking  up 
and  down  the  broad  terrace  walk  that  flanked  Wend- 
over's  southern  side. 

It  was  a  Georgian  house,  spacious  and  comfortable, 
but  not  especially  beautiful.  Mrs.  Cricklander  was  a 
woman  of  enormous  ability  —  she  had  a  perfect  talent 
for  discovering  just  the  right  people  to  work  for  her 
pleasure  and  benefit,  while  being  without  a  single  in- 
spiration herself.  If  she  engaged  a  professional  ad- 
viser to  furnish  her  house,  and  decorate  it,  you  could 
be  sure  he  was  of  the  best  and  that  his  services  had  been 
measured  and  balanced  beforehand,  and  that  he  had 
been  generously  paid  whatever  he  had  obtained  by  bar- 
gaining for  it,  and  that  the  agreement  was  signed  and 
every  penny  of  the  cost  entered  in  a  little  book.  It  was 
so  with  everything  that  touched  her  life.  She  had  a 
definite  idea  of  what  she  wanted,  although  she  did  not 
always  want  the  same  thing  for  long;  but  while  she 
did,  she  went  about  getting  it  in  a  sensible,  practical 
way,  secured  it,  paid  for  it, —  and  then  often  threw  it 
away. 

She  had  felt  she  wanted  Vincent  Cricklander  because 

104 


HALCYONE 

he  belonged  to  one  of  the  old  families  in  New  York 
and  played  polo  well,  and,  being  a  great  heiress  though 
of  no  pretensions  to  birth,  she  wished  to  have  an  un- 
disputed entry  into  the  inner  circle  of  her  own  country. 
He  fulfilled  her  requirements  for  quite  three  years,  and 
then  she  felt  she  was  "  through "  with  America,  and 
wanted  fresh  fields  for  her  efforts.  Paris  was  too  easy, 
Berlin  doubtful,  Vienna  and  Petersburg  impossible  to 
conquer,  but  London  would  hold  out  everything  that 
she  could  wish  for.  Only,  it  must  be  the  very  best  of 
London,  not  the  part  of  its  society  that  anyone  can 
struggle  and  push  and  pay  to  get  into,  but  the  real 
thing.  She  was  "  quite  finished  "  with  Vincent  Crick- 
lander,  too,  at  this  period;  to  see  him  play  polo  no 
longer  gaye  her  any  thrill.  So  one  morning  at  their 
lunch,  on  a  rare  occasion  when  they  chanced  to  be 
alone,  she  told  him  so,  and  asked  him  practically  how 
much  he  would  take  to  let  her  divorce  him. 

But  Vincent  Cricklander  was  a  gentleman,  and,  what 
is  more,  an  American  gentleman,  which  means  of  a 
chivalry  towards  women  unknown  in  other  countries. 

"  I  do  not  want  any  of  your  money,  Cis,"  he  said. 
"  I  will  be  quite  glad  to  go,  if  it  will  make  you  happier. 
We'll  phone  T.  V.  Ryan  this  afternoon  and  let  him 
think  out  a  scheme  so  that  it  can  be  done  without  a 
scandal  of  any  sort.  My  mother  has  old-fashioned 
ideas,  and  I  would  hate  to  pain  the  poor  dear  lady." 

It  took  nearly  two  years,  but  the  divorce  was  com- 
pleted at  last,  and  Cecilia  Cricklander  found  herself 
perfectly  free  and  with  all  the  keen  scent  of  the  hunter 

105 


HALCYONE 

for  the  chase  dilating  her  fine  nostrils  as  she  stood 
upon  the  deck  of  the  great  ocean  liner  bound  for  Liver- 
pool. 

She  was  a  very  beautiful  woman  and  refined  in  every 
point,  with  exquisite  feet  and  hands,  pure,  brilliant, 
fair  coloring  and  a  superb  figure,  and  even  a  fairly  sweet 
voice.  Her  education  had  been  a  good  deal  neglected 
because  she  was  too  spoilt  by  a  doting  father  to  profit 
by  the  instruction  he  provided  for  her.  She  felt  this 
keenly  directly  she  began  to  go  out  into  the  world,  and 
immediately  commenced  to  remedy  the  defect.  For  her, 
from  the  very  beginning,  life  appeared  in  the  light  of  a 
game.  Fate  was  an  adversary  from  whom  she  meant 
to  win  all  the  stakes,  and  it  behooved  a  clever  woman 
not  to  overlook  a  single  card  that  might  be  of  use  to 
her  in  her  play.  She  was  quite  aware  of  her  own  limita- 
tions, and  her  own  forces  and  advantages.  She  knew 
she  was  beautiful  and  charming;  she  knew  she  was  kind 
and  generous  and  extremely  "  cute,"  as  her  old  father 
said.  She  knew  that  literature  and  art  did  not  interest 
her  one  atom  in  themselves,  that  most  music  bored  her, 
and  that  she  had  a  rather  imperfect  memory;  but  dur- 
ing her  brief  visits  to  England,  when  she  was  making 
up  her  mind  that  this  country  would  be  the  field  for 
her  next  exertions,  she  had  decided  that  to  be  beautiful 
and  charming  was  not  just  enough;  there  were  numbers 
of  other  Americans  who  were  both,  and  they  were  all 
one  as  successful  and  sought  after  as  the  other.  She 
must  be  something  beyond  this  —  a  real  Queen.  To 
beauty   and   wealth   and  charm   she  must  add   culture 

106 


HALCYONE 

as  well.  She  must  be  able  to  talk  to  the  prime  minister 
upon  his  pet  foibles,  she  must  be  able  to  quote  erudite 
passages  from  all  the  cleverest  books  of  the  day  to  the 
brilliant  politicians  and  diplomats  and  men  of  polished 
brain  who  made  up  the  society  over  which  she  wished  to 
rule.  And  how  was  this  to  be  done?  She  thought  it  all 
out,  and  during  her  two  years  of  living  quietly  to  obtain 
her  divorce  without  a  breath  of  scandal,  she  had  hit 
upon  and  put  into  practice  an  admirable  plan. 

She  searched  for  and  found  a  poor,  very  plain  and 
highly  cultivated  English  gentlewoman,  one  who  had 
been  governess  in  a  foreign  Royal  family  and  was  now 
tr}Ting  to  support  an  aged  mother  by  giving  private  les- 
sons. Arabella  Clinker  was  this  treasure's  name  — 
Miss  Arabella  Clinker,  aged  forty-two,  and  as  ugly  as 
it  is  possible  for  a  thoroughly  nice  woman  to  be. 

Mrs.  Cricklander  made  no  mysteries  about  what  she 
required  Miss  Clinker's  companionship  for.  She  ex- 
plained minutely  that  should  any  special  dinner-party 
or  rencontre  with  any  great  person  be  in  view,  Miss 
Clinker  must  do  a  sort  of  preparatory  cramming  for 
her,  as  boys  are  prepared  for  examinations. 

"  You  must  make  it  your  business,  when  I  give  you 
the  names  of  the  people  I  am  to  meet,  to  post  me  up  in 
what  they  are  likely  to  talk  about.  You  must  read  all 
the  papers  in  the  morning  with  the  political  speeches  in 
them,  and  then  give  me  a  quick  resume;  if  it  should  be 
any  diplomat  or  great  artist  or  one  of  those  delightful 
Englishmen  who  knows  everything,  then  you  must  sug- 
gest some  suitable  authors  to  speak  of  that  they  will 

107 


HALCYONE 

like,  and  I  have  quite  enough  sense  myself  to  turn  the 
conversation  off  any  that  I  should  not  know  about.  In 
this  way  you  will  soon  learn  what  I  require  of  you, 
and  I  shall  learn  a  great  deal  and  gradually  can  launch 
out  into  much  more  difficult  things." 

Arabella  Clinker  had  a  sense  of  humor,  and  she  adored 
her  mother  and  wished  to  give  her  a  comfortable  old 
age.  Mrs.  Cricklander's  terms  for  this  unique  posi- 
tion were  according  to  her  accustomed  liberality. 

"  I  like  to  give  splendid  prices  for  things,  and  then 
I  expect  them  to  be  splendidly  done,"  she  said. 

Miss  Clinker  had  promised  to  do  her  best,  and  their 
partnership  had  lasted  for  nearly  three  years  with  the 
most  satisfactory  results  to  both  of  them.  Their  only 
difficulty  was  Mrs.  Cricklander's  defective  memory. 
She  could  not  learn  anything  by  heart,  and  if  she  were 
at  all  tired  had  to  keep  herself  tremendously  in  hand 
to  make  no  mistakes.  But  the  three  years  of  constant 
trying  had  enabled  her  to  talk  upon  most  subjects  in  a 
shibboleth  of  the  world  which  imposed  upon  everyone. 
Her  real  talent  which  called  for  the  greatest  admiration 
was  the  way  in  which  she  manipulated  what  she  knew,  and 
skimmed  a  fresh  subject.  She  would  do  so  with  such 
admirable  skill  and  wording  as  to  give  the  impression 
that  she  was  acquainted  with  its  profoundest  depths; 
and  then  when  she  was  safely  over  the  chasm  the  first 
moment  she  was  free  she  would  rush  to  Arabella  for 
the  salient  points,  doggedly  repeat  them  over  and  over, 
and  on  the  next  occasion  come  out  with  them  to  the  same 
person,  convincing  him  more  than  ever  of  her  thorough 

108 


H ALCYONE 

knowledge  of  the  subject.  But  her  memory  was  her 
misfortune,  for  if  Miss  Clinker  instructed  her,  for  in- 
stance, in  all  the  diiferent  peculiarities  of  the  styles  of 
Keats  and  Shelley,  a  week  after  she  would  have  for- 
gotten which  was  which  —  because  both  bored  her  to  dis- 
traction —  and  she  would  have  to  be  reminded  again. 
One  awful  moment  came  when,  rhapsodizing  upon  the 
sensibility  of  Keats'  character,  she  said  to  Sir  Tedbury 
Delvine,  the  finest  litterateur  of  his  time,  that  there 
must  have  come  moments  during  Keats'  latter  years 
when  he  must  have  felt  as  his  own  "  Prometheus  Un- 
bound " !  But,  seeing  her  mistake  immediately  by  her 
listener's  blank  face,  she  regained  her  ground  with  a 
skill  and  a  flow  of  words  which  made  Sir  Tedbury  Del- 
vine  doubt  whether  his  own  ears  had  heard  aright. 

"  Arabella,"  Mrs.  Cricklander  said  when  next  morn- 
ing she  lay  smoking  in  her  old-rose  silk  bed,  while  she 
went  through  her  usual  lessons  for  the  day,  "  you  must 
give  me  just  a  point  each  about  those  wretched  old 
two,  so  that  I  will  remember  them  again.  I  must  have 
a  sort  of  keynote.  Shelley's  would  do  with  that  horri- 
ble statue  of  him  drowned,  at  Oxford,  that  would  con- 
nect his  chain  —  but  what  for  Keats  ?  " 

So  at  last  Miss  Clinker  invented  a  plan,  almost  Pytha- 
gorean in  its  way,  and  it  proved  very  helpful  to  her 
patroness. 

When  she  went  on  light,  amusing  excursions  to  Egypt 
and  such  places,  she  allowed  Arabella  to  remain  with 
her  mother,  and  these  were  months  of  pure  happiness 
to  Miss  Clinker. 

109 


HALCYONE 

It  had  not  taken  Mrs.  Cricklander  long  to  conquer 
London  with  her  money,  and  her  looks,  and  her  tri- 
umphant belief  in  herself.  At  the  end  of  two  years, 
when  John  Derringham  was  first  presented  to  her,  she 
had  almost  reached  the  summit  of  her  ambitions.  To 
become  his  wife  she  had  decided  would  place  her  there. 
For  was  he  not  certain  to  climb  to  the  top  of  the  tree, 
as  well  as  being  the  most  brilliant  and  most  sought  after 
young  man  in  all  England.  Of  love  —  the  love  that 
recks  not  of  place  or  gain  but  just  gives  its  being  to 
the  loved  one  —  to  such  emotion  she  was  happily  a 
complete  stranger.  John  Derringham  attracted  her 
greatly,  and  until  now  had  successfully  evaded  all  her 
snares  and  had  remained  beyond  the  thrall  of  her  will. 
To  have  got  him  to  come  for  this  whole  week  of  Easter 
was  a  triumph  and  exulted  her  accordingly.  She  par- 
ticularly affected  politicians,  and  her  house  in  Grosvenor 
Square  was  a  meeting-place  for  both  parties,  provided 
the  members  of  each  were  of  the  most  distinguished 
type.  And  there  were  not  more  than  two  or  three  peo- 
ple out  of  all  her  acquaintances,  besides  Arabella,  who 
smiled  a  little  over  her  brilliant  culture. 

By  all  this  it  can  be  seen  that  Mrs.  Cricklander  was  a 
wonderful  character  —  tenacious,  indomitable,  full  of 
nerve  and  deserving  of  the  greatest  respect  in  conse- 
quence. 

The  only  thing  the  least  vulgar  about  her  was  her 
soul  —  if  she  had  one  —  and  it  is  not  the  business  of 
society  to  look  into  such  things.  Scrutiny  of  the  sort 
is  left   for  creatures  like  the   Professor,   Cheiron,  who 

110 


HALCYONE 

have  nothing  else  to  do  —  but  his  impressions  upon  this 
subject  must  come  in  their  proper  place. 

Meanwhile,  John  Derringham  had  joined  the  party 
on  the  terrace,  and  was  joyously  acclaimed,  and  then 
minutely  questioned  as  to  the  cause  of  his  lengthy  ab- 
sence. He  had  not  been  to  church  —  that  was  certain. 
He  had  not  been  out  of  the  park,  because  the  lodges 
were  not  in  the  direction  from  which  he  had  been  seen 
advancing.  Where  had  he  been,  then?  All  alone?  He 
would  not  give  any  account  of  himself,  as  was  his  way, 
and  presently  his  hostess  drew  him  on  ahead  and  down 
the  terrace  steps.  She  wanted  to  point  out  to  him  some 
improvements  which  she  contemplated.  The  garden 
must  be  the  most  beautiful  in  the  country  —  and  he 
knew  so  much  about  gardens,  he  could  tell  her  exactly 
which  style  would  suit  the  house  best. 

John  Derringham  was  in  a  bad  temper.  That  unac- 
countable sense  of  a  discordant  note  with  himself  still 
stayed  with  him.  He  unconsciously,  during  his  walk, 
had  dwelt  upon  the  Professor's  information  as  to  the 
view  of  the  old  ladies  of  The  Chase,  and  then  Halcyone's 
silence  and  stiffness.  He  felt  excluded  from  the  place 
which  he  recollected  he  had  held  in  the  child's  regard. 
His  memory  had  jumped  the  brief  glimpse  of  her  during 
her  fledgling  period,  and  had  gone  back  with  distinct 
vividness  to  the  summer  morning  in  the  tree,  almost  seven 
years  ago. 

He  answered  with  a  carelessness  which  was  not  alto- 
gether pleasing  to  Cecilia  Cricklander.  She  saw  in- 
stantly that  her  favorite  guest  was  ruffled  by  something. 

Ill 


HALCYONE 

Although  never  fine,  she  was  quick  at  observing  all  the 
moods  of  her  pawns,  and  had  brought  the  faculty  of 
watching  for  signs  from  castles,  knights  and  kings  to 
a  science.  John  Derringham  must  be  humored  and  ca- 
joled by  a  proof  of  her  great  understanding  of  him  —  he 
must  be  left  in  silence  for  a  minute,  and  then  she  would 
pause  and  look  over  the  balustrade,  so  that  he  might 
see  her  handsome  profile  and  take  in  the  exquisite  sim- 
plicity of  her  perfect  dress.  She  knew  these  things 
pleased  him.  She  would  look  a  little  sad,  too,  and  far 
away. 

It  had  its  effect. 

"  What  are  you  dreaming  about,  fair  chatelaine  ?  "  he 
asked  after  a  while.  "  Your  charming  mouth  has  its 
corners  drooped." 

"  I  was  wondering  — "  and  then  she  stopped. 

"  Yes  ?  "  asked  John  Derringham.  "  You  were  won- 
dering what  ?  " 

•'  I  was  wondering  if  one  could  ever  get  you  to  really 
take  an  interest  in  anything  but  your  politics,  and  your 
England's  advancement?  How  good  it  would  be  if  one 
could  interest  you  for  a  moment  in  anything  else." 

He  leaned  upon  the  balustrade  beside  her. 

"  You  are  talking  nonsense,"  he  said.  "  You  know 
very  well  that  you  interest  me  every  time  I  see  you  — 
and  it  is  growing  upon  me.  That  was  not  the  only 
thing  revolving  in  your  clever  mind." 

"  Yes,  indeed,"  and  she  looked  down. 

'  Well,  then,  I  am  interested  in  your  garden.  What 
do  you  think  of  doing?     Tell  me." 

112 


HALCYONE 

She  explained  an  elaborate  plan,  and  quoted  the 
names  of  famous  gardeners  and  their  styles,  with  her 
accustomed  erudition.  For  had  not  Arabella  got  them 
up  for  her  only  that  morning,  as  she  smoked  her  seventh 
cigarette  in  bed?  She  inclined  to  French  things,  and 
she  thought  that  this  particular  part  —  a  mere  rough  bit 
of  the  park  —  could  very  well  be  laid  out  as  a  Petit 
Trianon.  She  could  procure  copies  of  the  plans  of 
Mique,  and  even  have  a  Temple  d' 'Amour. 

"  I  love  to  create,"  she  said.  "  The  place  would  not 
have  amused  me  if  everything  had  been  complete,  and 
if  you  will  help  me  I  shall  be  so  grateful." 

"  Of  course  I  will,"  he  said.  "  The  Temple  aV Amour 
would  look  quite  well  up  upon  that  rising  ground,  and 
you  could  have  a  small  winding  lake  dug  to  complete 
the  illusion.  Nothing  is  impossible,  and  I  suppose  you 
can  get  permission  from  the  old  Wendover  who  lives  in 
Rome  to  do  what  you  wish?  " 

"  I  should  like  to  have  been  able  to  take  the  park  of 
the  next  place,  La  Sarthe  Chase,  too  —  that  impassable 
haw-haw  and  the  boarded-up  gate  irritate  me.  The 
boards  have  been  put  since  I  came  to  look  over  every- 
thing last  autumn.  I  did  instruct  the  agent,  Martin, 
in  Applewood  to  offer  a  large  price  for  it,  but  he  assured 
me  it  would  be  quite  useless;  it  belongs,  it  appears,  to 
the  most  ridiculous  old  ladies,  who  are  almost  starving, 
but  would  rather  die  than  be  sensible." 

Suddenly  John  Derr^ngham  was  conscious  that  his 
sympathies  had  shifted  to  the  Misses  La  Sarthe,  and  he 
could  not  imagine  why. 

113 


HALCYONE 

"  You  told  me,  I  think,"  she  went  on,  "  that  you  knew 
this  neighborhood.  Do  you  happen  to  be  aware  of  any 
bait  I  could  hold  out  to  them?  " 

"  No,  I  do  not,"  he  said.  "  That  sort  of  pride  is 
foolish,  if  you  like ;  but  there  it  is  —  part  of  an  inher- 
itance of  the  spirit  which  in  the  past  has  made  England 
great.  They  are  wonderful  old  ladies.  I  dined  with 
them  once  long  ago." 

"  I  must  really  go  over  and  see  them  one  day.  Per- 
haps I  could  persuade  them  to  my  view." 

The  flicker  of  a  smile  came  into  the  eyes  of  John  Der- 
ringham,  and  she  noticed  it  at  once.  It  angered  her, 
and  deepened  the  pretty  pink  in  her  fresh  cheeks. 

"You  think  they  would  not  be  pleased  to  see  me?" 
she  flashed. 

"  They  are  ridiculously  old-fashioned,"  he  said. 
"  Not  your  type  at  all." 

"  But  I  love  curiosities,"  she  returned,  smiling  now. 
"  I  am  not  absolutely  set  upon  any  type.  All  human 
beings  are  a  delightful  study.  If  you  know  them,  you 
must  bring  them  to  see  me  then  some  day." 

But  at  this  John  Derringham  laughed  outright. 

"  If  you  could  picture  them,  you  would  laugh,  too," 
he  said.  "  There  is  someone,  though,  whom  I  do  want 
you  to  know,  who  lives  close  here  —  my  old  Oxford  pro- 
fessor of  Greek,  Arnold  Carlyon.  He  is  a  study  who 
will  repay  you.  The  most  whimsical  cynic,  as  well  as 
one  of  the  greatest  scholars  I  have  ever  come  across  in 
my  life.  I  promised  him  to-day  that  I  would  persuade 
you  to  let  me  take  you  to  see  him." 

114 


HALC YONE 


"  How  enchanting,"  she  replied  with  enthusiasm. 
"  And  we  must  make  him  come  here.  When  shall  we 
go?     To-morrow? " 

"  No,  I  said  Monday  or  Tuesday  —  with  your  per- 
mission," and  he  bent  over  her  with  caressing  homage. 

"  Of  course  —  when  you  will.  That,  then,  is  where 
you  were  this  morning.  But  how  did  you  get  back 
through  the  park  ?  "  she  asked.  "  There  is  no  opening 
at  that  side  whatever.  It  is  all  blocked  by  the  wicked 
La  Sarthe  Chase." 

"  I  came  round  the  edge,"  he  said,  and  felt  annoyed 
—  he  hated  lying  — "  and  then  turned  upwards.  I 
wanted  to  see  the  boundaries." 

"  I  hate  boundaries,"  she  laughed.  "  I  always  want 
to  overstep  them." 

"  There  is  the  chance  of  being  caught  in  snares." 

"  Which  adds  to  the  excitement,"  and  she  allowed  her 
radiant  eyes  to  seek  his  with  a  challenge. 

He  was  not  slow  to  take  it  up. 

"  Enchantress,"  he  whispered  softly,  "  it  is  you  whose 
charm  lays  snares  for  men.  You  have  no  fear  of  falling 
into  them  yourself." 

She  rippled  a  low  laugh  of  satisfaction.  And,  having 
tamed  her  lion,  she  now  suggested  it  was  time  to  go  in 
to  luncheon. 


CHAPTER  XII 

•RABELLA  CLINKER  took  Sunday  afternoons 
generally  to  write  a  long  letter  to  her  mother, 
and  Good  Friday  seemed  almost  a  Sunday,  so 
she  went  up  to  her  room  from  force  of  habit.  But  first 
she  looked  up  some  facts  in  the  countless  books  of  refer- 
ence she  kept  always  by  her.  Mrs.  Cricklander  had 
skated  over  some  very  thin  ice  at  luncheon  upon  a 
classical  subject,  when  talking  to  the  distinguished  Mr. 
Derringham,  and  she  must  be  warned  and  primed  up 
before  dinner.  Arabella  had  herself  averted  a  catas- 
trophe and  dexterously  turned  the  conversation  in  the 
nick  of  time.  Mrs.  Cricklander  had  a  peculiarly  un- 
classical  brain,  and  found  learning  statistics  about 
ancient  philosophies  and  the  names  of  mythological 
personages  the  most  difficult  of  all.  Fortunately  in 
these  days,  even  among  the  most  polished,  this  special 
branch  of  cultivation  was  rather  old-fashioned,  Miss 
Clinker  reflected,  but  still,  as  Mr.  Derringham  seemed 
determined  to  wander  along  this  line  (Arabella  had  un- 
consciously appropriated  some  apt  Americanisms  during 
her  three  years  of  bondage),  she  must  be  loyal  and  not 
allow  her  employer  to  commit  any  blunders.  So  she 
got  her  facts  crystallized,  or  "  tabloidcd,"  as  Mrs. 
Cricklander  would  mentally  have  characterized  the  proc- 

116 


HALCYON E 

ess,  and  then  she  began  her  letter  to  her  parent.  Mrs. 
Clinker,  an  Irishwoman  and  the  widow  of  a  learned  Dean, 
understood  a  number  of  things,  and  was  clear-headed 
and  humorous,  for  all  her  seventy  years,  and  these  pas- 
sages in  her  daughter's  letter  amused  her. 

We  are  entertaining  a  number  of  distinguished 
visitors,  and  among  them  Mr.  John  Derringham, 
the  Under  Secretary  of  State  for  Foreign  Affairs. 
He  is  a  most  interesting  personality,  as  perfectly 
sure  of  what  he  wants  in  life  as  is  M.  E.  (M.  E. 
stood  for  "  My  Employer  " —  names  were  invidi- 
ous). They  would  be  a  perfect  match,  each  as  sel- 
fish as  the  other,  I  should  say.  He  is  really  very 
cultivated,  and  believes  her  to  be  so,  too.  She  has 
not  made  a  single  mistake  as  yet,  but  frightened 
me  at  luncheon  a  little.  I  must  try  and  get  her  to 
keep  him  off  classical  subjects.  She  intends  to 
marry  him  —  and  then  she  will  not  require  me,  I 
suppose;  or  rather,  I  do  not  think  he  would  per- 
mit her  to  keep  me.  If  it  came  to  a  measure  of 
wills,  he  would  win,  I  think  —  at  first,  at  least  — 
but  she  could  wear  away  a  stone  in  the  end,  as  you 
know.  The  arranging  of  this  place  is  still  amus- 
ing  her,  so  she  may  decide  to  spend  a  good  deal  of 
time  here.  She  closed  her  mouth  with  that  firm 
snap  this  morning  that  I  have  described  to  you 
often,  and  said  that  it  was  going  to  be  her  delight 
to  make  them  put  themselves  out  and  come  so  far 
away  from  London  for  her.  "  Them,"  for  the 
moment,  are  Mr.  Derringham  and  Mr.  Hanbury- 
Green,  almost  a  Socialist  person,  who  is  on  the 

117 


H ALCYONE 

other  side  —  very  brilliantly  clever  but  with  a 
Cockney  accent  in  one  or  two  words.  M.  E.  does 
not  notice  this,  of  course.  Mr.  H-G.  is  in  love 
with  her  —  Mr.  D.  is  not,  but  she  is  determined 
that  he  shall  be.  I  do  not  know  if  he  intends  to 
marry  her.  He  is  making  up  his  mind,  I  think, 
therefore  I  must  be  doubly  careful  not  to  allow 
her  to  commit  any  mistakes,  because  if  she  did  it 
would  certainly  estrange  him,  and  as  to  keep  her 
free  is  so  much  to  our  advantage,  I  feel  I  must  be 
extra  careful  in  doing  my  duty. 

Arabella  was  a  person  of  scrupulous  honor. 
She  then  proceeded  to  describe  the  party,  and  con- 
cluded with, 

There  is  one  American  girl  I  like  very  much  — 
perfectly  natural  and  bubbling  with  spirits,  saying 
aloud  everything  she  thinks,  really  well  educated 
and  taking  so  much  outdoor  exercise  that  she  has 
not  yet  begun  to  have  the  nervous  attacks  that  are 
such  a  distressing  feature  of  so  many  of  her  coun- 
trywomen. I  am  told  it  is  their  climate.  M.  E. 
says  it  is  because  the  men  out  there  have  always 
let  them  have  their  own  way.  I  should  think  so 
much  smoking  has  something  to  do  with  it. 

John  Derringham  meanwhile  had  gone  with  his  host- 
ess and  some  of  the  rest  of  the  party,  Mr.  Hanbury- 
Green  among  them,  to  inspect  the  small  golf  links  Mrs. 
C'ricklander  was  having  constructed  in  the  park.  Her 
country-house  must   be   complete   with   suitable   amuse- 

118 


H ALCYONE 

ments.  She  had  taken  all  the  Wendover  shooting,  too, 
and  what  she  could  get  of  Lord  Graceworth's  beyond. 
"  You  cannot  drag  people  into  the  wilds  and  then  bore 
them  to  death,"  she  said.  What  she  most  enjoyed  was 
to  scintillate  to  a  company  of  two  or  three,  and  fas- 
cinate them  all  into  a  desire  for  a  tete-a-tete,  and  then, 
when  with  difficulty  one  had  secured  this  privilege,  to 
be  elusive  and  tantalize  him  to  death.  To  passion  she 
was  a  complete  stranger,  and  won  all  her  games  because 
with  her  great  beauty  she  was  as  cold  as  ice. 

She  was  not  feeling  perfectly  content  this  Good  Fri- 
day afternoon.  Something  had  happened  since  the 
evening  before  which  had  altered  John  Derringham's 
point  of  view  towards  her.  She  felt  it  distinctly  with 
her  senses,  trained  like  an  animal's,  to  scent  the  most 
subtle  things  in  connection  with  herself.  It  was  impos- 
sible to  seize,  she  could  not  analyze  it,  but  there  it  was ; 
certainly  there  seemed  to  be  some  change.  He  was  bril- 
liant, and  had  been  even  empresse  before  lunch,  but  it 
was  not  spontaneous,  and  she  was  not  perfectly  sure 
that  it  was  not  assumed.  It  was  his  cleverness  which 
attracted  her.  She  could  not  see  the  other  side  of  his 
head  —  not  that  she  would  have  understood  what  that 
meant,  if  she  had  heard  the  phrase. 

But  her  habit  was  not  to  sit  down  under  an  adverse 
circumstance,  but  to  probe  its  source  and  eradicate  it, 
or,  at  least,  counteract  it.  Thus,  while  she  chattered 
eloquently  to  Sir  Tedbury  Delvine,  her  keen  brain  was 
weighing  things.  John  Derringham  had  certainly  had 
a  look  of  aroused  passion  in  his  eyes  when  he  had  pressed 
9  119 


HALCYONE 

her  hand  in  a  lingered  good  night ;  he  had  even  said  some 
words  of  a  more  advanced  insinuation  as  to  his  intentions 
towards  her  than  he  had  ever  done  before.  They  were 
never  exact  —  always  some  fugitive  hint  to  which  after- 
wards she  would  try  to  fix  some  meaning  as  she  reviewed 
their  meetings.  She  had  not  seen  him  at  breakfast  be- 
cause she  never  came  down  in  the  morning  until  eleven 
or  twelve,  and  he  had  already  gone  out,  she  heard,  when 
she  did  descend. 

It  followed  then  that  either  he  had  received  some 
disturbing  letter  by  the  post  —  only  one  on  Good  Fri- 
day —  or  something  had  occurred  during  his  visit  to 
his  old  master.  It  would  be  her  business  to  find  out 
which  of  these  two  things  it  was.  Could  the  Professor 
be  married,  and  might  there  be  some  woman  in  the  fam- 
ily? Or  was  it  nothing  to  do  with  the  Professor  or 
with  a  letter,  or  was  there  a  more  present  reason?  Had 
Cora  Lutworth  attracted  him  with  her  youth  and  high 
spirits?  They  were  walking  ahead  now,  and  she  could 
hear  his  laugh  and  see  how  they  were  enjoying  them- 
selves. 

She  had  been  a  perfect  fool  to  ask  Cora.  She  did  not 
fear  a  single  Englishwoman,  the  powers  of  most  of 
whom  in  her  heart  she  despised  —  but  Cora  was  of  her 
own  race,  and  well  equipped  to  rival  her  in  a  question 
of  marriage.  Cora  was  only  twenty-one,  and  she  her- 
self was  thirty  —  and  there  was  the  divorce  which, 
although  she  had  found  it  no  bar  to  her  entrance  into 
the  most  exclusive  English  society,  still  might  perhaps 
rankle  unconsciously  in  the  mind  of  a  man  mounting  the 

120 


HALCYONE 

political  ladder,  and  determined  to  secure  the  highest 
honors. 

She  felt  she  hated  Cora,  and  would  have  destroyed 
her  with  a  look  if  she  had  been  able. 

Miss  Lutworth,  meanwhile,  brimful  of  the  joy  of  life 
and  insouciance,  was  amusing  herself  vastly.  And  John 
Derringham  was  experiencing  that  sense  of  relaxation 
and  irresponsible  pleasure  he  got  sometimes  when  he 
was  overworked  from  going  to  an  excruciatingly  funny 
Paris  farce.  Miss  Lutworth  did  not  appeal  to  his  brain 
at  all,  although  she  was  quite  capable  of  doing  so;  she 
just  made  him  feel  gay  and  frolicsome  with  her  de- 
liciously  ruse  view  of  the  world  and  life  in  general.  He 
forgot  his  ruffled  temper  of  the  morning,  and  by  the  time 
they  had  returned  for  tea,  was  his  brilliant  self  again, 
and  quite  ready  to  sit  in  a  low  chair  at  his  hostess's  side, 
while  she  leaned  back  among  the  cushions  of  her  sofa, 
in  her  own  sitting-room,  whither  she  had  enticed  him  # 
during  that  nondescript  hour  before  dinner,  when  each 
person  could  do  what  he  pleased. 

"Is  not  Cora  sweet?"  she  said,  smoothing  the  bro- 
cade beneath  her  hand.  Her  sitting-room  had  been  ar- 
ranged by  the  artist  who  had  done  the  house,  as  a  perfect 
bower  of  Italian  Sixteenth  Century  art.  Mr.  Jephson, 
the  artist,  had  assured  her  that  this  period  would  make 
a  perfect  background  for  her  fresh  and  rather  volup- 
tuous coloring ;  it  had  not  become  so  banal  as  any  of  the 
French  Louis'.  And  so  Arabella  had  been  instructed  to 
drum  into  her  head  the  names  of  the  geniuses  of  that 
time,  and  their  works,  and  she  could  now  babble  sweetly 

121 


HALCYONE 

all  about  Giorgione,  Paolo  Veronese  and  Titian's  later 
works  without  making  a  single  mistake.  And  while  the 
pictures  bored  her  unspeakably,  she  took  a  deep  pleasure 
in  her  own  cleverness  about  them,  and  delighted  in  trac- 
ing the  influence  Paolo  Veronese  must  have  had  upon 
Boucher,  a  hint  from  Arabella  which  she  had  announced 
as  an  inspiration  of  her  own. 

She  had  tea-gowns  made  to  suit  this  period,  and 
adopted  the  stately  movements  which  were  evidently  the 
attribute  of  that  time. 

John  Derringham  thought  her  superb.  If  he  had 
been  really  in  love  with  her,  he  might  have  seen  through 
her  —  and  not  cared  —  just  as  if  she  had  not  attracted 
him  at  all,  he  would  certainly  have  taken  her  measure 
and  enjoyed  laying  pitfalls  for  her.  But  as  it  was,  his 
will  was  always  trying  to  augment  his  inclination.  He 
was  too  busy  to  analyze  the  real  meaning  of  any  woman, 
and  until  the  Professor's  words  about  the  divorce  and 
the  Misses  La  Sarthe's  view  of  the  affair,  it  had  never 
even  struck  him  that  there  could  be  one  single  aspect 
of  Mrs.  Cricklander's  case  which  he  might  have  to  blink 
at.  He  had  told  himself  he  had  better  marry  a  rich 
woman,  since  his  old  maternal  uncle,  Joseph  Scroope, 
had  just  taken  unto  himself  a  young  wife  and  might 
any  day  have  an  heir.  And  this  was  his  only  other  pos- 
sible source  of  fortune. 

Mrs.  Cricklander  seemed  the  most  advantageous  bar- 
gain looming  upon  the  horizon.  She  was  of  proved 
entertaining  capabilities.  She  had  passed  her  examina- 
tion in  the  power  of  being  a  perfect  hostess.     She  had 

122 


HALCYONE 

undoubted  and  expanding  social  talents.  Women  did 
not  dislike  her ;  she  was  very  vivid,  very  handsome,  very 
rich.  What  more  could  a  man  who  in  his  innermost 
being  had  a  supreme  contempt  for  women,  and  a  su- 
preme belief  in  himself,  desire? 

He  had  even  balanced  the  advantages  of  marrying  a 
rich  American  girl,  one  like  Miss  Lutworth,  for  example. 
But  such  beings  were  unproven,  and  might  develop  nerves 
and  fads,  which  were  of  no  consequence  in  the  delight- 
ful creatures  with  whom  he  passed  occasional  leisure 
hours  of  recreation,  but  which  in  a  wife  would  be  a  singu- 
lar disadvantage.  Since  he  must  marry  —  and  soon  — 
before  the  present  Parliament  broke  up  and  his  Govern- 
ment went  out,  and  there  came  some  years  of  fighting 
from  the  Opposition  benches,  when  especially  brilliant 
entertaining  might  be  of  advantage  to  him  —  he  knew 
he  had  better  make  up  his  mind  speedily,  and  take  this 
ripe  and  luscious  peach,  which  appeared  more  than  will- 
ing to  drop  into  his  mouth. 

So,  this  late  afternoon,  aided  by  the  scents  and  colors 
and  propinquity,  he  did  his  very  best  to  make  gradual 
love  to  her,  and  for  some  unaccountable  hideously  annoy- 
ing reason  felt  every  moment  more  aloof.  It  almost 
seemed  at  last  as  if  he  were  guarding  something  of  fine 
and  free  that  was  being  assailed.  His  dual  self  was 
fighting  within  his  soul. 

Mrs.  Cricklander  was  experiencing  all  the  exciting 
emotions  which  presumably  the  knights  of  old  enjoyed 
when  engaged  in  a  tournament.  She  was  not  even  dis- 
turbed when  the  dressing-gong  rang  and  she  had  not 

123 


HALCYONE 

yet  won.  It  was  only  a  postponement  of  one  of  the 
most  entrancing  games  she  had  ever  played  in  her  suc- 
cessful life.  And  Mr.  Hanbury-Green  was  going  to  sit 
upon  her  left  hand  at  dinner  and  would  afford  new  flint 
for  her  steel.  He  was  a  recent  acquisition,  and  of  un- 
doubted coming  value.  His  views  were  in  reality  nearer 
her  heart  politically  than  those  of  John  Derringham. 
Deep  down  in  her  being  was  a  strong  class  hatred  —  un- 
dreamed of,  and  which  would  have  been  vigorously  de- 
nied. She  remembered  the  burning  rage  and  the  vows 
of  vengeance  which  had  convulsed  her  as  a  girl,  because 
the  refined  and  gently  bred  women  of  her  own  New 
York's  inner  circle  would  have  none  of  her,  and  how  it 
had  been  her  glory  to  trample  upon  as  many  of  them 
as  she  could,  when  Vincent  Cricklander  had  placed  her 
as  head  of  his  fine  mansion  in  Fifty-ninth  Street,  hav- 
ing moved  from  the  old  family  home  in  Washington 
Square.  And  there,  underneath,  was  the  feeling  still 
for  those  of  any  country  who,  instinct  told  her,  had  in- 
herited from  evolution  something  which  none  of  her 
money,  and  none  of  her  talent,  and  none  of  her  in- 
domitable will,  could  buy.  But  of  course  Mr.  Hanbury- 
Green  was  not  to  be  considered,  except  as  a  foil  for  her 
wit  —  a  pawn  in  the  game  for  the  securing  of  John  Der- 
ringham. 

Thus  it  was  that  she  was  able  to  walk  in  her  stately 
way  with  trailing  velvets  down  the  broad  stairs  of  her 
newly  acquired  home  with  a  sense  of  exaltation  and  com- 
placency which  was  unimpaired. 

John  Derringham,  on  the  contrary,  was  rather  abrupt 

124 


HALCYONE 

with  his  valet  and  spoilt  two  white  ties,  and  swore  at  him- 
self because  his  old  Eton  hand  had  lost  its  cunning. 
But  finally  he  too  went  down  the  shallow  steps,  and, 
joining  his  hostess  at  the  door,  sailed  in  with  her  to  the 
George  I  saloon,  his  fine  eyes  shining  and  his  bearing 
more  arrogant  than  before. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

'FTER  dinner  there  was  a  brisk  passage  of  arms 
between  the  two  men  of  opposite  party  in  the 
group  by  the  fire,  and  Mrs.  Cricklander  incited 
them  to  further  exertions.  It  had  arisen  because  Mr. 
Derringham  had  launched  forth  the  abominable  and  pre- 
posterous theory  that  the  only  thing  the  Radicals  would 
bring  England  to  would  be  the  necessity  of  returning  to 
barbarism  and  importing  slaves  —  then  their  schemes 
applied  to  the  present  inhabitants  of  the  country  might 
all  work.  The  denizens  in  the  casual  wards,  having  a 
vote  and  a  competence  provided  by  the  State,  would  have 
time  to  become  of  the  leisured  classes  and  apply  them- 
selves to  culture,  and  so  every  free  citizen  being  equal, 
a  company  of  philosophers  and  an  aristocracy  of  intel- 
lect would  arise  and  all  would  be  well ! 

Mrs.  Cricklander  glanced  stealthily  at  his  whimsical 
face,  to  be  sure  whether  he  were  joking  or  no  —  and  de- 
cided he  probably  was.  But  Mr.  Hanbury-Green,  so 
irritated  by  the  delightful  hostess's  evident  penchant  for 
his  rival,  allowed  his  ill-humor  to  obscure  his  usually 
keen  judgment,  and  took  the  matter  up  in  serious  ear- 
nest. 

"  Your  side  would  not  import,  but  reduce  us  all  —  we 
who  are  the  defenders  of  the  people  —  to  being  slaves," 

126 


HALCYONE 

he  said  with  some  asperity.  "  Your  class  has  had  its 
innings  long  enough,  it  would  be  the  best  thing  in  the 
world  for  you  to  have  to  come  down  to  doing  your  own 
housework." 

"  I  should  make  a  capital  cook,"  said  John  Derring- 
ham,  with  smiling  eyes,  "  but  I  should  certainly  refuse 
to  cook  for  anyone  but  myself ;  and  you,  Mr.  Green,  who 
may  be  an  indifferent  artist  in  that  respect,  would  have 
perhaps  a  bad  dinner." 

"  I  never  understand,"  interrupted  Mrs.  Cricklander 
— "  when  everything  is  socialistic,  shall  we  not  be  able  to 
live  in  these  nice  houses  ?  " 

"  Of  course  not,"  said  Mr.  Hanbury-Green  gravely. 
"  You  will  have  to  share  with  less  fortunate  people.5' 
And  then  he  drew  himself  up  ready  for  battle,  and  began. 

"  Why,  because  a  man  or  woman  is  born  in  the  gutter, 
should  not  he  or  she  be  given  by  the  State  the  same 
chance  as  though  born  in  a  palace?  We  are  all  exactly 
the  same  human  beings,  only  until  now  luck  and  circum- 
stance have  been  different  for  us." 

"  I  am  all  for  everyone  having  the  same  chance," 
agreed  John  Derringham,  allowing  the  smile  to  stay  in 
his  eyes,  "  although  I  do  not  admit  we  are  all  the  same 
human  beings,  any  more  than  the  Derby  winner  is  the 
same  horse  as  the  plow  horse  or  the  cob.  They  can  all 
draw  some  kind  of  vehicle,  but  they  cannot  all  win  races 
—  they  have  to  excel,  each  in  his  different  line.  Give 
everyone  a  chance,  by  all  means,  and  then  make  him  come 
up  for  examination,  and  if  found  fit  passed  on  for  higher 
things,  and  if  unfit,  passed  out !     It  is  your  tendency  to 

127 


HALCYONE 

pamper  the  unfit  which  I  deplore.  You  have  only  one 
idea  on  your  Radical  Socialist  side  of  the  House,  to  pull 
down  those  who  are  in  any  inherited  or  agreeable  au- 
thority —  not  because  they  are  doing  their  work  badty, 
but  because  you  would  prefer  their  place !  The  war-cry 
of  boons  for  the  people  covers  a  multitude  of  objects, 
and  is  the  most  attractive  cry  for  the  masses  to  hear 
all  over  the  world.  The  real  boon  for  the  people  would 
be  to  give  them  more  practical  sound  education  and 
ruthlessly  to  clear  out  the  unfit."  Then  his  face  lost  its 
whimsical  expression  and  became  interested. 

"  Let  us  imagine  a  Utopian  state  of  republic.  Let 
every  male  citizen  who  has  reached  twenty-five  years, 
say,  pass  his  examination  in  the  right  to  live  freely,  re- 
gardless of  class,  and  if  he  cannot  do  so,  let  him  go  into 
the  ranks  of  the  slaves,  because,  turn  it  how  you  will,  we 
must  have  some  beings  to  do  the  lowest  offices  in  life. 
Who  would  willingly  clean  the  drains,  fill  the  dust-carts 
—  and,  indeed,  do  the  hundred  and  one  things  that  are 
simply  disgusting,  but  which  must  be  done?  " 

Mr.  Hanbury-Green  had  not  a  sufficiently  strong 
answer  ready,  so  remained  loftily  silent,  while  John  Der- 
ringham  went  on: 

"  We  obscure  every  issue  nowadays  by  a  sickly  senti- 
ment and  this  craze  for  words  to  prove  black  is  white 
in  order  to  please  the  mediocrity.  If  we  could  only  look 
facts  in  the  face  we  should  see  that  the  idea  of  equality 
of  all  men  is  perfectly  ridiculous.  No  ancient  republic 
ever  worked,  even  the  most  purely  democratic,  like  the 
Athenian,  of  the  fifth  and  fourth  centuries  B.  C,  with- 

128 


HALCYONE 

out  an  unconsidered  and  unrepresented  population  of 
slaves.  You  know  your  Aristotle,  Mr.  Green,"  he  went 
on  blandly,  "  and  you  will  remember  his  admirable  re- 
mark about  some  men  being  born  masters  and  others 
born  to  obey,  and  that,  if  only  Nature  had  made  the 
difference  in  their  mental  capacities  as  apparent  to  the 
eye  as  is  the  difference  in  their  bodies,  everyone  would 
rcognize  this  at  once." 

His  voice  grew  intense:  the  subject  interested  him. 

"  You  may  say,"  he  went  on,  "  that  Aristotle,  Plato 
and  Socrates  accepted  the  fact  of  slavery  without  pro- 
test because  it  was  an  institution  from  time  immemorial, 
and  so  the  idea  did  not  appear  to  them  so  repugnant. 
But  do  you  mean  to  tell  me  that  such  consummate 
geniuses,  such  unbiased  glorious  brains  would  have 
glossed  over  any  idea,  or  under-considered  any  point  in 
their  schemes  for  the  advancement  of  man?  They  ac- 
cepted slavery  because  they  saw  that  it  was  the  only 
possible  way  to  make  a  republic  work,  where  all  citizens 
might  aspire  to  be  equal." 

"You  would  advocate  slavery  then?  Oh!  Mr.  Der- 
ringham,  how  dreadful  of  you !  "  exclaimed  Mrs.  Crick- 
lander,  half  playfully. 

"  Not  in  the  least,"  he  returned,  still  allowing  some 
feeling  to  stay  in  his  voice.  "  I  would  only  have  it 
recognized  that  there  must  be  some  class  in  my  ideal 
republic  who  will  do  the  duties  of  the  slaves  of  old. 
I  would  have  it  so  arranged  that  they  should  occupy 
this  class  only  when  they  had  shown  they  were  unfit  for 
anything  higher,  and  I  would  also  arrange  it  that  the 

129 


H ALCYONE 

moment  they  appeared  capable  of  rising  out  of  it  there 
should  be  no  bar  to  their  doing  so.  It  is  the  cry  of  our 
all  being  equal  because  we  have  two  arms  and  two  legs 
and  a  head  in  common,  not  counting  any  mental  endow- 
ment, which  is  utter  trash  and  hypocrisy.  But  when 
these  agitators  are  shouting  for  the  people's  rights  and 
inciting  poor  ignorant  wretches  to  revolt,  they  never 
suggest  that  the  lowest  of  them  is  not  perfectly  suited 
to  the  highest  position !  Those  occupying  any  station 
above  the  lowest  have  got  there  merely  by  superior  luck 
and  favoritism,  not  merit  —  that  is  what  they  preach." 

Mr.  Hanbury-Green  was  just  going  to  answer  with  a 
biting  attack  when  Miss  Cora  Lutworth's  rather  high 
voice  was  heard  interrupting  from  a  tall  old  chair  in 
which  she  had  perched  herself. 

"  Why,  Mr.  Derringham,  we  all  want  to  be  something 
very  grand,"  she  laughed  merrily.  "  I  hate  common 
people  and  love  English  dukes  and  duchesses  —  don't 
you,  Cis?  "  and  she  looked  at  Mrs.  Cricklander,  who  was 
standing  in  a  position  of  much  stately  grace  by  the  lofty 
mantelpiece. 

"  You  sweet  girl !  "  exclaimed  Lord  Freynault,  who 
was  next  to  her.  "  I  cannot  get  any  nearer  to  those 
favored  folk  than  my  uncle's  being  a  duke,  but  won't 
you  let  me  in  for  some  of  your  friendly  feelings  on  that 
account  ?  " 

"  I  certainly  will,"  she  answered  archly,  "  because  I 
like  the  way  you  look.  I  like  how  your  hair  is  brushed, 
and  how  your  clothes  are  cut,  and  your  being  nice  and 
clean   and  outdoor  —  and  long  and  thin  — "  and  then 

130 


HALCYONE 

she  whispered  — "  ever  so  much  better  than  Mr.  Han- 
bury-Green's  thick  appearance.  He  may  be  as  clever 
as  clever,  but  he  is  common  and  climbing  up,  and  I  like 
best  the  people  who  are  there !  " 

John  Derringham  now  addressed  himself  exclusively 
to  his  hostess. 

"  I  agree  with  the  point  of  view  of  the  old  Greeks  — 
they  were  so  full  of  common  sense.  Balance  and  har- 
mony in  everything  was  their  aim.  A  beautiful  body, 
for  instance,  should  be  the  correlative  of  a  beautiful  soul. 
Therefore  in  general  their  athletics  were  not  pursued, 
as  are  ours,  for  mere  pleasure  and  sport,  and  because  we 
like  to  feel  fit.  They  did  not  systematically  exercise 
just  to  wrest  from  some  rival  the  prize  in  the  games, 
either.  Their  care  of  the  body  had  a  far  higher  and 
nobler  end:  to  bring  it  into  harmony  as  a  dwelling- 
place  for  a  noble  soul/' 

"  How  divine !  "  said  Mrs.  Cricklander. 

John  Derringham  went  on: 

"You  remember  Plato  upon  the  subject  —  his  reluc- 
tance to  admit  that  a  physical  defect  must  sometimes  be 
overlooked.  But  nowadays  everything  is  distorted  by 
ridiculous  humanitarian  nonsense.  With  our  wonderful 
inventions,  our  increasing  knowledge  of  sanitation  and 
science,  and  the  possibilities  and  limitations  of  the  human 
body,  what  glorious  people  we  should  become  if  we  could 
choke  this  double-headed  hydra  of  rotten  sentiment  and 
exalt  common  sense !  " 

But  now  Mrs.  Cricklander  saw  that  a  storm  was  gath- 
ering upon  Mr.  Hanburv-Green's  brow  and,  admirable 

131 


H ALCYONE 

hostess  that  she  was,  she  decided  to  smooth  the  troubled 
waters,  so  she  went  across  the  room  to  the  piano,  and 
began  to  play  a  seductive  valse,  while  John  Derringham 
followed  her  and  leaned  upon  the  lid,  and  tried  to  feel 
as  devoted  as  he  looked. 

"  Why  cannot  we  go  to-morrow  and  see  your  old  mas- 
ter? "  she  asked,  as  her  white  fingers,  with  their  one  or 
two  superb  rings,  glided  over  the  keys.  "  I  feel  an 
unaccountable  desire  to  become  acquainted  with  him.  I 
should  love  to  see  what  the  person  was  like  who  molded 
you  when  you  were  a  boy." 

"  Mr.  Carlyon  is  a  wonderful-looking  old  man,"  John 
Derringham  returned.  "  Someone  —  who  knows  him 
very  well  —  described  him  long  ago  as  '  Cheiron.'  You 
will  see  how  apt  it  is  when  you  meet." 

Mrs.  Cricklander  crashed  some  chords.  She  had 
never  heard  of  this  Cheiron.  She  felt  vaguely  that  Ara- 
bella had  told  her  of  some  classical  or  mythological  per- 
sonage of  some  such  sounding  name,  a  boatman  of  sorts 
—  but  she  dare  not  risk  a  statement,  so  she  went  on  with 
the  point  she  wished  to  gain,  which  was  to  investigate  at 
once  Mr.  Carlyon's  surroundings  and  discover,  if  possi- 
ble, whether  there  was  any  influence  there  that  would 
be  inimical  to  herself. 

"  I  dare  say  we  can  go  to-morrow,"  John  Derringham 
said.  "  You  and  I  might  walk  over  —  and  perhaps  Miss 
Lutworth  and  Freynault.  We  can't  go  a  large  party, 
the  house  is  so  small." 

"  Why  cannot  you  and  I  go  alone,  then?  "  she  asked. 

"  Oh,  I  think  he  would  like  to  see  Miss  Cora.     She  is 

132 


HALCYONE 

such  a  charming  girl,"  and  John  Derringham  looked 
over  to  where  she  sat,  still  dangling  a  pair  of  blue  satin 
feet  from  the  high  chair.  And  inwardly  Mrs.  Crick- 
lander  burned. 

Cora  was  a  second  cousin  of  her  divorced  husband, 
and  belonged  by  birth  to  that  inner  cream  of  New  York 
society  which  she  hated  in  her  heart.  Never,  never 
again  would  she  be  so  foolish  as  to  chance  crossing 
swords  with  one  of  her  own  nation.  But  aloud  she  ac- 
quiesced blandly  and  arranged  that  they  should  start 
at  eleven  o'clock. 

"  Perhaps  we  could  persuade  him  to  return  to  lunch 
with  us  ?  "  she  hazarded.     "  And  that  would  be  so  nice." 

"  You  must  do  what  you  can  with  him,"  John  Der- 
ringham said.  "  I  have  prepared  him  to  find  you  beau- 
tiful —  as  you  are." 

"  You  say  lovely  things  about  me  behind  my  back, 
then?  "  she  laughed.     "  Now  he  will  be  disappointed!  " 

"  Yes,  I  admit  it  was  a  betise  —  but,  being  my  real 
thoughts,  they  slipped  out  when  I  was  there  to-day. 
You  will  have  to  be  extra  charming  to  substantiate 
them." 

Before  Mrs.  Cricklander  went  to  bed,  she  called  Ara- 
bella Clinker  into  her  room. 

"  Arabella,"  she  said,  "  who  was  Cheiron?  "  But  she 
pronounced  the  "  ei  "  as  an  "  a,"  so  Miss  Clinker  replied 
without  any  hesitation: 

"  He  was  a  boatman  who  carried  the  souls  of  the  dead 
over  the  River  Styx,  and  to  whom  they  were  obliged  to 
pay  an  obolus  —  son  of  Erebus  and  Nox.     He  is  rep- 

133 


HALCYONE 

resented  as  an  old  man  with  a  hideous  face  and  long 
white  beard  and  piercing  eyes." 

"  Is  there  anything  else  I  ought  to  know  about  him?  " 
her  employer  asked,  and  Arabella  thought  for  a  moment. 

"  There  is  the  story  of  Hercules  not  showing  the 
golden  bow.  Er  —  it  is  a  little  complicated  and  has  to 
do  with  the  superstitions  of  the  ancients  —  er  —  some- 
thing Egyptian,  I  think,  for  the  moment  —  I  will  look 
it  up  to-morrow.     I  can't  say  offhand." 

"  Thanks,  Arabella.     Good  night." 

And  it  was  not  until  after  the  party  of  four  had 
started  next  morning  that  Miss  Clinker  suddenly 
thought,  with  a  start :  "  She  may  have  been  alluding  to 
quite  the  other  Cheiron  —  the  Centaur  —  and  in  that 
case  I  have  given  her  some  wrong  lights ! " 


CHAPTER  XIV 

GORA  was  being  more  than  exasperating,  Mrs. 
Cricklander  thought,  as  they  went  through  the 
park.  Not  content  with  Lord  Freynault,  who 
was  plainly  devoted  to  her,  she  kept  every  now  and  then 
looking  back  at  John  Derringham  with  some  lively  sally, 
and  although  he  was  being  particularly  agreeable  to 
herself,  he  responded  to  Miss  Lutworth's  piquant  attacks 
with  a  too  ready  zeal. 

Mrs.  Cricklander  grew  more  and  more  certain  that 
her  hold  over  him  had  lessened  in  these  last  two  days, 
and  every  force  in  her  indomitable  personality  stiffened 
with  determination  to  win  him  at  all  costs. 

The  Professor  received  them  graciously.  He  was 
seated  in  his  library,  which  now  was  a  most  comfortable 
room  surrounded  with  bookcases  in  which  lived  all  his 
rare  editions  of  loved  books.  Nothing  could  be  more 
fascinating  than  Mrs.  Cricklander's  manner  to  him  —  a 
mixture  of  deference  and  friendly  familiarity,  as  though 
he  would  appreciate  the  fact  of  a  tacit  understanding 
between  them  that  she  too  had  a  right  in  John  Derring- 
ham's  friends.  She  had  been  so  reassured  by  finding 
that  Mr.  Carlyon  was  unmarried  and  lived  alone,  that  a 
glow  of  real  warmth  towards  the  Professor  emanated 
from  her,  while  the  conviction  grew  that  it  was  nothing 
10  135 


HALCYONE 

but  the  influence  of  Cora  Lutworth  which  had  even 
momentarily  cooled  her  whilom  ardent  friend. 

Mr.  Carlyon's  imperturbable  countenance  gave  no 
hint  of  what  he  thought  of  her,  although  John  Derring- 
ham  watched  him  furtively  and  anxiously.  He  listened 
to  their  conversation  when  he  could,  and  it  jarred  upon 
him  twice  when  the  lady  of  his  choice  altogether  missed 
the  point  of  Cheiron's  subtle  remarks.  She  whom  he 
had  always  considered  so  understanding! 

Of  Halcyone  there  was  no  sign  and  no  mention,  and 
for  some  reason  which  he  could  not  explain  John  Der- 
ringham  felt  glad. 

It  seemed  an  eternity  before  Mrs.  Cricklander  got  up 
to  go,  having  been  unable  to  persuade  Mr.  Carlyon  to 
return  with  them  to  luncheon.  He  had  a  slight  cold,  he 
said,  and  meant  to  remain  in  his  warm  library. 

"  Mr.  Derringham  says  you  are  called  Cheiron,"  Mrs. 
Cricklander  announced  laughingly.  "  How  ridiculous  to 
find  in  you  any  likeness  to  that  old  ferryman  of  the 
piercing  eye.     I  see  no  resemblance  but  in  the  beard." 

"  So  John  relegates  me  to  the  post  of  ferryman  to  the 
dead  already,  does  he !  "  Mr.  Carlyon  responded.  "  I 
had  hoped  he  still  allowed  me  my  horse's  hoofs  and  my 
cave  —  I  have  been  deceiving  myself  all  these  years,  evi- 
dently." 

A  blank  look  grew  in  Mrs.  Cricklander's  eye.  What 
had  caves  and  horse's  hoofs  to  do  with  the  case?  She 
had  better  turn  the  conversation  at  once,  or  she  might 
be  out  of  her  depth,  she  felt;  and  this  she  did  with  her 
usual  skill,  but  not  before  the  Professor's  left  eyebrow 

136 


HALCYONE 

had  run  up  into  his  forehead,  and  his  wise  old  eyes  be- 
neath had  met  and  then  instantly  averted  themselves  from 
those  of  John  Derringham. 

All  the  way  back  to  the  house  Mrs.  Cricklander  had 
the  satisfaction  of  listening  to  a  much  more  advanced 
admiration  of  herself  than  she  had  hoped  to  obtain  so 
soon,  and  arrived  in  the  best  of  restored  humors  —  for 
John  Derringham  had  clenched  his  teeth  as  he  left  the 
orchard  house,  and  had  told  himself  that  he  would  not 
be  influenced  or  put  off  by  any  of  these  trifling  things, 
and  that  it  was  some  vixenish  turn  of  Fate  to  have  al- 
lowed these  currents  of  disillusion  about  a  woman  who 
was  so  eminently  suitable  to  reach  him  through  the  me- 
dium of  his  old  friend. 

A  strange  thing  happened  to  Halcyone  that  morning. 
She  had  made  up  her  mind  to  keep  away  from  her  usual 
visit  to  Cheiron  on  the  Monday  and  Tuesday  when  John 
Derringham  had  announced  he  might  bring  over  his  host- 
ess to  see  the  Professor.  She  did  not  wish  to  cause  com- 
plications with  her  aunts  by  making  Mrs.  Cricklander's 
acquaintance,  and  underneath  she  had  some  strange  re- 
luctance herself.  Her  unerring  instincts  warned  her 
that  this  woman  might  in  some  way  trouble  her  life,  but 
she  thought  Saturday  would  be  perfectly  safe  and  was 
preparing  to  start,  when  some  vague  longing  came  over 
her  to  see  her  goddess.  She  had  felt  less  serene  since 
the  day  before,  and  John  Derringham  and  his  words 
and  looks  absorbed  her  thoughts.  The  home  of  Aphro- 
dite was  now  in  a  chest  in  the  long  gallery,  of  which  she 
kept  the  key,  and  as  this  old  room  was  always  empty  — 

137 


HALCYONE 

none  of  the  servants,  not  even  Priscilla,  caring  about 
visiting  it  —  haunted,  it  was,  they  said  —  she  had 
plenty  of  time  to  spend  what  hours  she  liked  with  her 
treasure  without  having  to  do  so  by  stealth,  as  in  the 
beginning.  For  any  place  indoors  she  loved  the  long 
gallery  better  than  any  other  place.  The  broken  win- 
dow panes  had  been  mended  when  the  turn  for  the  better 
came  for  the  whole  house,  and  now  she  herself  kept  it  all 
dusted  and  tidy  and  used  it  as  a  sitting-room  and  work- 
room as  well;  and,  above  all,  it  was  the  temple  of  the 
goddess  wherein  was  her  shrine. 

This  day  when  Aphrodite  was  uncovered  from  her 
blue  silk  wrappings,  her  whole  expression  seemed  to  be 
one  of  appeal ;  however  Halcyone  would  hold  her,  in 
high  or  low  light,  the  eyes  appeared  to  be  asking  her 
something. 

"What  is  it,  sweet  mother  and  friend?"  she  said. 
"  Do  you  not  want  me  to  leave  you  to-day  ?  If  so,  in- 
deed I  will  not.  What  are  you  telling  me  with  those 
beautiful,  sad  eyes?  That  something  is  coming  into  my 
existence  that  you  promised  me  always,  and  that  it  will 
cause  me  sorrow,  and  I  must  pause  ?  " —  and  she  shiv- 
ered slightly  and  laid  her  cheek  against  the  marble  cheek. 
"  I  am  not  afraid,  and  I  want  whatever  it  must  be,  since 
it  is  life."  Then  she  put  the  head  back,  and  started 
upon  her  walk.  But  first  one  thing  and  then  another 
delayed  her,  until  last  of  all  she  sat  down  under  the  oak 
near  the  gap  in  the  hedge  and  asked  herself  if  all  these 
things  could  be  chance.  And  here  she  took  to  dreaming 
and  watching  the  young  rabbits  come  out  of  their  holes, 

138 


HALC YONE 

and  to  wondering  what  Fate  held  in  store  for  her  in  the 
immediate  future.  What  was  going  to  be  her  life? 
That  nothing  but  good  could  happen  she  always  knew, 
because  since  the  very  beginning  God  —  the  same  per- 
sonal kindly  force  that  she  had  always  worshiped,  un- 
altered by  her  deep  learning,  unweakened  by  any  theo- 
logical dissertations  —  was  there  manifesting  the  whole 
year  round  His  wonderful  love  for  the  world. 

And  so  she  sat  until  the  clock  of  the  church  at  Sarthe- 
under-Crum  struck  one,  and  she  started  up,  realizing 
that  she  was  too  late  now  to  go  on  to  Cheiron's  and 
would  only  just  have  time  to  return  for  lunch  with  her 
aunts.  She  must  go  instead  in  the  afternoon.  So  she 
walked  briskly  to  the  house,  with  a  strange  feeling  of 
relief  and  joy,  which  she  was  quite  unable  to  account 
for  in  any  explicable  way. 

Nothing  delayed  her  on  her  second  attempt  to  reach 
the  orchard  house,  and  she  found  Cheiron  placidly 
smoking  while  he  read  a  volume  of  Lucian.  She  was 
quite  aware  what  that  meant.  When  the  Professor  was 
in  an  amused  and  cynical  humor  he  always  read 
Lucian,  and  although  he  knew  every  word  by  heart,  it 
still  caused  him  complete  satisfaction,  plainly  to  be 
discerned  by  the  upward  raising  of  the  left  penthouse 
brow. 

Halcyone  sat  down  and  smiled  sympathetically  while 
she  tried  to  detect  which  volume  it  was,  that  she  might 
have  some  clew  to  the  cause  of  her  Professor's  mood. 
But  he  carefully  closed  the  book,  so  that  she  could  not 
see  —  it  was  the  Judgment  of  Paris  in  the  dialogue  of 

139 


HALCYONE 

the  gods  —  and  she  was  unable  to  have  her  curiosity 
gratified. 

"Something  has  entertained  you,  Cheiron?"  she 
said. 

"  I  have  had  the  visit  of  two  goddesses,"  he  answered, 
chuckling.  "  Our  friend  John  Derringham  brought 
them.  He  wanted  to  show  them  off  and  get  my  opinion, 
I  think." 

"  And  did  you  give  him  one  ?  "  she  asked.  "  I  sup- 
pose not ! " 

"  He  went  away  with  his  teeth  shut  — "  and  Mr.  Carl- 
yon's  smile  deepened  as  he  stroked  his  white  beard. 

Halcyone  laughed.  She  seldom  asked  questions  her- 
self. If  the  Professor  wished  to  tell  her  anything  about 
the  ladies  he  would  do  so  —  she  was  dying  to  hear ! 
Presently  a  set  of  disjointed  sentences  flowed  from  her 
master's  lips  between  his  puffs  of  smoke. 

"  Girl  —  worth  something  —  showy  —  honest  —  sure 
of  herself  —  clever  —  pretty  —  on  her  own  roots  —  not 
a  graft." 

"Girl" — who  was  the  girl?  Halcyone  wondered. 
But  Cheiron  continued  his  laconic  utterances. 

"  Woman  —  beautiful  —  determined  —  thick  — 
roots  of  the  commonest  —  grafting  of  the  best  —  oc- 
topean,  tenacious  —  dangerous  —  my  poor  devil  of  a 
John ! " 

"  And  did  you  give  the  apple  to  either,  Cheiron  ?  " 
Halcyone  asked  with  a  gleam  of  fine  humor  in  her  wise 
eyes.  "  Or,  one  of  the  trio  being  absent,  did  you  feel 
yourself  excused?  " 

140 


HALCYONE 

Mr.  Carlyon  glanced  at  her  sharply,  and  then  broke 
into  a  smile. 

"  Young  woman,  I  do  not  think  I  have  ever  allowed 
you  to  read  the  Judgment  of  Paris,"  he  said.  "  Where- 
fore your  question  is  ill-timed  and  irrelevant." 

Then  they  laughed  together.  How  well  they  knew 
one  another !  —  not  only  over  things  Greek.  And  pres- 
ently they  began  their  reading.  They  were  in  the  mid- 
dle of  Symonds'  "  Renaissance,"  and  so  forgot  the  outer 
world. 

But  after  Halcyone  had  gone  in  the  dusk  through 
the  park,  the  Professor  sat  in  the  firelight  for  a  while, 
and  did  not  ring  for  lights.  He  was  musing  deeply,  and 
his  thoughts  ran  something  in  this  line: 

"  John  must  dree  his  weird.  Nothing  anyone  could 
say  has  ever  influenced  him.  If  he  marries  this  woman 
she  will  eat  his  soul;  having  only  a  sham  one  of  her 
own,  she  will  devour  his.  She'll  do  very  well  to  adorn 
the  London  house  and  feed  his  friends.  He'll  find  her 
out  in  less  than  a  year  —  it  will  kill  his  inspirations. 
Well,  Zeus  and  all  the  gods  cannot  help  a  man  in  his 
folly.  But  my  business  is  to  see  that  he  does  not  en- 
snare the  heart  of  my  little  girl.  If  he  had  waited  he 
could  have  found  her  —  the  one  woman  with  a  soul." 

•  ••••••• 

Miss  Roberta  had,  unfortunately,  a  bad  attack  of 
rheumatism  on  Easter  Sunday,  augmented  by  a  cold, 
and  Halcyone  stayed  at  home  to  rub  her  poor  knee 
with  hot  oil,  so  she  did  not  see  the  Wendover  party, 
several  of  whom  came  to  church.     Miss  La  Sarthe  oc- 

141 


HALCYONE 

cupied  the  family  pew  alone,  and  was  the  source  of 
much  amusement  and  delight  to  the  smart  inhabitants 
of  the  outer  world. 

"  Isn't  she  just  too  sweet,  Cis?  "  whispered  Miss 
Lutworth  into  Mrs.  Cricklander's  ear.  "  Can't  we 
get  Mr.  Derringham  to  take  us  over  there  this  after- 
noon ?  " 

But  when  the  subject  was  broached  later  at  lunch- 
eon by  his  hostess,  John  Derringham  threw  cold  water 
upon  the  idea.  He  had  stayed  behind  for  a  few  min- 
utes to  renew  his  acquaintance  with  the  ancient  lady, 
and  had  given  her  his  arm  down  the  short  church  path, 
and  placed  her  with  extreme  deference  in  the  Shetland 
pony  shay,  to  the  absolute  enchantment  of  Miss  Lut- 
worth, who,  with  Lord  Freynault,  stood  upon  the  mound 
of  an  old  forgotten  grave,  the  better  to  see.  It  was 
in  the  earlier  days  of  motor-cars,  and  Mrs.  Cricklander's 
fine  open  Charron  created  the  greatest  excitement  as 
it  waited  by  the  lych-gate.  The  two  Shetlands  cocked 
their  ears  and  showed  various  signs  of  nervous  interest, 
and  William  had  all  he  could  do  to  hold  the  minute 
creatures.  But  Miss  La  Sarthe  behaved  with  unim- 
paired dignity,  never  once  glancing  in  the  direction  of 
the  great  green  monster.  She  got  in,  assisted  by  the 
respectful  churchwarden,  and  allowed  John  Derring- 
ham to  wrap  the  rug  round  her  knees,  and  then  care- 
fully adjusted  the  ring  of  her  turquoise-studded  whip 
handle. 

"  Good  day,  Goddard,"  she  said  with  benign  con- 
descension to  the  churchwarden.     "  And  see  that  Betsy 

142 


HALCYONE 

Hodges'  child  with  the  whooping-cough  gets  some  of 
Hester's  syrup  and  is  not  brought  to  church  again 
next  Sunday."  And  she  nodded  a  gracious  dismissal. 
Then,  turning  to  John  Derringham,  she  gave  him  two 
fingers,  while  she  said  with  some  show  of  haughty 
friendliness :  "  My  sister  and  I  will  be  very  pleased 
to  see  you  if  you  are  staying  in  this  neighborhood, 
Mr.  Derringham,  and  care  to  take  tea  with  us  one 
day." 

"  I  shall  be  more  than  delighted,"  he  replied,  as  he 
bowed  with  homage  and  stood  aside,  because  William's 
face  betrayed  his  anxiety  over  the  fidgety  ponies. 

Miss  La  Sarthe  turned  her  head  with  its  pork-pie 
hat  and  floating  veil,  and  said  with  superb  tranquillity, 
"  You  may  drive  on  now,  William."  And  they  rolled 
off  between  a  lane  of  respectful,  curtseying  rustics. 

Mrs.  Cricklander  and  Lady  Maulevrier  had  already 
entered  the  motor  and  Avere  surveying  the  scene  with 
amused  interest,  while  Miss  Lutworth  and  Lord  Frey- 
nault,  chaperoned  by  Arabella  Clinker,  were  preparing 
to  walk.  It  was  not  more  than  a  mile  across  the  park, 
and  it  was  a  glorious  day.  John  Derringham  joined 
them. 

;t  I  think  I  will  come  with  you,  too,"  he  said.  "  You 
take  my  place,  Sir  Tedbury.  It  is  only  fair  you  should 
dri 


ive  one  way 


« 


And  so  it  was  arranged,  not  altogether  to  the  satis- 
faction of  the  hostess,  who  would  have  preferred  to 
have  walked  also.  However,  there  was  nothing  to  be 
done,  and  so  they  were  whizzed  off,  while  with  the  tail 

143 


HALCYONE 

of  her  e}re  Cecilia  Cricklander  perceived  that  Lord  Frey- 
nault  had  been  displaced  from  Cora's  side  and  was  now 
stalking  behind  the  other  pair,  beside  Arabella  Clinker. 

"  What  an  extraordinary  sight  that  was,"  she  said 
to  Sir  Tedbury  Delvine  as  they  went  along.  "  I  thought 
no  villagers  curtsied  any  more  now  in  England.  That 
very  funny-looking  old  lady  might  have  been  a  roy- 
alty !  " 

"  It  is  because  she  has  never  had  a  doubt  but  that 
she  is  —  or  something  higher  —  complete  owner  of  all 
these  souls,"  he  returned,  "  that  they  have  not  yet  be- 
gun to  doubt  it  either.  They  and  their  forebears  have 
bobbed  to  the  La  Sarthe  for  hundreds  of  years,  and 
they  will  go  on  doing  it  if  this  holder  of  the  name  lives 
to  be  ninety-nine.  They  would  never  do  so  to  any  new- 
comer, though,  I  expect." 

"  But  I  am  told  they  have  not  a  penny  left,  and  have 
sold  every  acre  of  the  land  except  the  park.  Is  it  not 
wonderful,  Kitty?"  Mrs.  Cricklander  went  on,  turning 
to  Lady  Maulevrier.  "  I  am  dying  to  know  them.  I 
hope  they  will  call." 

But  Sir  Tedbury  had  already  chanced  to  have  talked 
the  matter  over  with  John  Derringham,  because  he 
himself  was  most  anxious  to  see  La  Sarthe  Chase,  which 
was  of  deep  historical  interest,  and  had  incidentally  been 
made  aware  by  that  gentleman  of  the  old  ladies'  views, 
so  he  hastily  turned  the  conversation,  rather  awkwardly, 
to  other  things.  And  a  wonder  grew  in  Mrs.  Crick- 
lander's  mind. 

That  anyone  should  not  be  enchanted  to  receive  her 

144 


HALCYONE 

beautiful  and  sought-after  self  could  not  enter  her 
brain,  but  there  was  evidently  some  bar  between  the 
acquaintance  of  herself  and  her  nearest  neighbors,  and 
Arabella  should  be  set  to  find  out  of  what  it  consisted. 


CHAPTER  XV 

OO  let  us  go  around  by  the  boundary,"  Miss 
Lutworth  said  when  they  got  through  the 
Wendover  gates.  "  I  long  to  see  even  the 
park  of  that  exquisite  old  lady ;  it  must  look  quite  dif- 
ferent to  anj'body  else's,  and  I  feel  I  want  an  adven- 
ture !  " 

So  they  struck  in  towards  the  haw-haw  —  the  four 
walking  almost  abreast. 

When  they  came  to  be3Tond  the  copse,  after  it  touched 
the  Professor's  garden,  they  paused  and  took  in  the 
view.  It  was  unspeakably  beautiful  from  there,  rolling 
away  towards  the  splendid  old  house,  which  could  only 
just  be  distinguished  through  the  giant  trees,  not  yet 
in  leaf.  And  suddenly,  hardly  twenty  yards  from 
them  across  the  gulf,  coming  from  the  gap  in  Mr. 
Carlyon's  hedge,  they  saw  a  tall  and  very  slender  mouse- 
colored  figure,  as  Halcyone  emerged  on  her  homeward 
way  —  she  had  run  down  to  see  Cheiron  when  her  duties 
with  Miss  Roberta  were  over,  and  was  now  going  back 
to  lunch. 

"Good  morning!"  called  John  Derringham,  and  the 
four  advanced  to  the  very  edge  of  their  side,  and  Hal- 
cyone turned  and  also  bordered  hers,  while  she  bowed 
serenely. 

146 


HALCYONE 


.. 


u 


Isn't  it  a  day  of  the  gods !  "  he  continued.  "  And 
may  I  from  across  this  Stygian  lake  (there  was  a  little 
water  collected  in  the  haw-haw  here  from  the  recent 
rains)  introduce  Miss  Lutworth  to  you  —  and  Miss 
Clinker  and  Lord  Freynault?  Miss  Halcyone  La  Sar- 
the." 

Everyone  bowed,  and  Halcyone  smiled  her  sweet, 
grave  smile. 

"We  would  love  to  jump  over  —  or  you   come  to 
us,"  Cora  Lutworth  said  with  her  frank,  friendly  charm. 
Isn't  there  any  way  ?  " 

I  am  afraid  not,"  responded  Halcyone.  "  You  are 
across  in  another  world  —  we  live  in  the  shades,  this 
side." 

"  Remember  something  about  a  fellow  named  Or- 
pheus getting  over  to  fetch  his  girl  " — "  gail "  Lord 
Freynault  pronounced  it  — "  since  old  John  will  use 
Eton  cribs  in  describing  the  horrid  chasm.  Can't  we 
sop  old  Cerberus  and  somehow  manage  to  swim,  if  there 
is  no  ferryman  about  ?  " 

"  You  would  certainly  be  drowned,"  said  Halcyone. 
"  In  this  place  the  lake  is  quite  ten  inches  deep !  " 

Cora  Lutworth  was  taking  in  every  bit  of  her  with 
her  clever,  kindly  eyes. 

'  What     a     sweet,     distinguished     violet-under-the- 
mossy-bank  pet  of  a  girl !  "  she  was  saying  to  herself. 
c  No  wonder  Mr.  Derringham  goes  to  see  his  Profes- 
sor!    How    mad    Cis    would    be!     I    shan't    tell   her." 
And  aloud  she  said: 

"  You  cannot  imagine  how  I  am  longing  to  get  a 

147 


HALCYONE 

nearer  peep  of  your  beautiful  old  house.     Do  we  get 
a  chance  further  on  ?  " 

"  No,"  said  Halcyone.  "  I  am  so  sorry.  You 
branch  further  off  once  you  have  passed  the  closed 
gate.  It  was  very  stupid  —  the  La  Sarthe  quarreled 
with  the  Wendovers  a  hundred  years  ago,  and  it  was  all 
closed  up  then,  and  these  wicked  spikes  put." 

"  It  is  too  tantalizing.  But  won't  you  walk  with 
us  to  where  we  have  to  part?  "  Miss  Lutworth  said, 
while  John  Derringham  had  a  sudden  longing  to  turn 
back  and  carefully  remove  certain  bits  of  iron  and 
brick  he  wot  of,  and  ask  this  nymph  of  the  woods  to 
take  him  on  to  their  tree,  and  tell  him  more  stories 
about  Jason  and  Medea  in  that  exquisitely  refined  voice 
of  hers,  as  she  had  done  once  before,  long  ago.  But 
even  though  he  might  not  have  this  joy,  he  got  rather 
a  fine  pleasure  out  of  the  fact  of  sharing  the  secret 
of  the  crossing  with  her,  and  he  had  the  satisfaction 
of  meeting  her  soft  eyes  in  one  lightning  comprehend- 
ing glance. 

They  chatted  on  about  the  view  and  the  beauties  of 
the  neighborhood,  and  they  all  laughed  often  at  some 
sally  of  Cora's  —  no  one  could  resist  her  joyous,  bub- 
bling good-fellowship.  She  had  all  the  sparkle  of  her 
clever  nation,  and  the  truest,  kindest  heart.  Halcyone 
had  never  spoken  to  another  young  girl  in  her  life, 
and  felt  like  a  yearling  horse  —  a  desire  to  whinny  to  a 
fellow  colt  and  race  up  and  down  with  him  beside  the 
dividing  fence  of  their  paddocks.  A  new  light  of 
youth  and  sweetness  came  into  her  pale  face. 

148 


HALCYONE 

"  I  do  wish  I  might  ask  you  to  come  round  by  the 
road,"  she  said,  "  and  see  it  near,  but,  as  Mr.  Derring- 
ham  knows,  my  aunts  are  very  old,  and  one  is  almost  an 
invalid  now,  so  we  never  have  any  visitors  at  all." 

"  Of  course,  we  quite  understand,"  said  Cora,  quickly, 
touched  at  once  by  this  simple  speech.  "  But  we  should 
so  love  you  to  come  over  to  us." 

"  Alas ! "  said  Halcyone,  "  it  is  indeed  the  Styx." 

And  here  they  arrived  at  the  boarded-up  gate,  where 
further  view  was  impossible,  and  from  which  onwards 
the  lands  ceased  to  join. 

"  Good-by ! "  they  called  to  one  another,  even  Ara- 
bella Clinker  joining  in  the  chorus,  while  Cora  Lut worth 
ran  back  to  say: 

"  Some  day  we'll  meet  —  outside  the  Styx.  Let  us 
get  Mr.  Derringham  to  manage  it ! " 

And  Halcyone  cried  a  glad  "  Oh,  yes  1 " 

"  What  a  darling !  What  a  perfect  darling !  "  Miss 
Lutworth  said  enthusiastically,  taking  Arabella's  arm 
as  they  struck  rapidly  inward  and  up  a  knoll.  "  Did 
you  ever  see  anything  look  so  like  a  lady  in  that  im- 
possible old  dress?  Tell  us  about  her,  Mr.  Derring- 
ham. Does  she  live  with  those  prehistoric  ladies  all 
alone  in  that  haunted  house?  Could  anything  be  so 
mysterious  and  romantic?  Please  tell  us  all  you  know." 
Yes,  she  does,  I  believe,"  John  Derringham  said. 
My  old  master  tells  me  she  never  sees  or  speaks  to 
anyone  from  one  year's  end  to  another.  I  have  only  met 
her  very  rarely  myself." 

Does  it  not  seem  too  awful?  "  returned  Cora,  aghast, 

149 


a 


a 


HALCYONE 

thinking  of  her  own  merry,  enjoyable  life,  with  every 
whim  gratified.  "  To  be  so  young  and  attractive  and 
actually  buried  alive !  Don't  you  think  she  is  a  dream, 
Arabella?  " 

"  I  was  greatly  impressed  with  her  distinction  and 
charm,"  Miss  Clinker  said.  "  I  wish  we  could  do  some- 
thing for  her  to  make  things  brighter." 

"  Let  us  ask  Ci  — "  and  then  Miss  Lutworth  paused, 
returning  to  her  first  thought  —  she  knew  her  hostess 
well.  No,  it  could  not  bring  any  pleasure  into  the  life 
of  this  slender,  lithe  English  lady  with  the  wonderful 
Greek  name,  to  be  made  acquainted  with  Cecilia  Crick- 
lander,  who  would  tear  her  to  pieces  without  compunc- 
tion the  moment  she  understood  in  what  direction  John 
Derringham's  eyes  would  probably  be  cast.  He  saw 
Cora's  hesitation  and  understood,  and  was  grateful. 

"  I  believe  this  girl  is  trumps.  I  don't  think  she  will 
even  mention  our  meeting,"  he  said  to  himself. 

Now  for  a  few  steps  Miss  Lutworth  drew  Arabella 
Clinker  on  ahead. 

"  Arabella,  you  dear,"  she  whispered,  "  I  don't  want 
to  say  a  word  against  Cis  —  who,  of  course,  is  all  right 
—  but  I  have  a  feeling  we  won't  tell  her  we've  met  this 
dryad  of  a  Halcyone  La  Sarthe.  Have  you  got  that 
instinct,  too?  " 

"  Quite  strongly,"  said  Arabella,  who  never  wasted 
words.  "  I  was  going  to  mention  to  you  the  same  idea 
myself." 

"  Then  that  is  understood !  "  and  she  laughed  her 
happy  laugh.      "  I'll  see  that  Freynie  doesn't  peach !  " 

150 


HALCYONE 

Thus  it  was  that  four  demure  and  healthful-looking 
beings  joined  the  party  on  the  terrace  of  Wendover, 
and  described  their  pleasant  walk,  without  one  word 
spoken  of  their  rencontre  with  the  }roungest  Miss  La 
Sarthe.  And  once  or  twice  Cora  Lutworth's  mischie- 
vous eyes  met  those  of  John  Derringham,  and  they  both 
laughed. 


11 


CHAPTER  XVI 

^ g'OHN  DERRINGHAM  made  a  point  of  slip- 

&  1  Pmg  away  on  the  Easter  Tuesday  afternoon; 
A»_^'  he  determined  to  drink  tea  with  the  Misses 
La  Sarthe.  He  went  to  his  room  with  important  letters 
to  write,  and  then  sneaked  down  again  like  a  truant 
schoolboy,  and  when  he  got  safely  out  of  sight,  struck 
obliquely  across  the  park  to  the  one  vulnerable  spot  in  the 
haw-haw,  and  after  fumbling  a  good  deal,  from  his 
side,  managed  to  get  the  spikes  out  and  to  climb  down, 
and  repeat  the  operation  upon  the  other  side.  There 
was  no  water  here,  it  was  on  rather  higher  ground,  and 
he  was  soon  striding  up  the  beech  avenue  towards  the 
house. 

"  It  would  be  an  extremely  awkward  place  to  get  over 
in  the  dark,"  he  thought,  and  then  he  was  conscious  that 
Halcyone  was  far  in  the  distance  in  front  of  him,  al- 
most entering  the  house. 

So  she  would  be  in,  then  —  that  was  good. 

He  had  never  permitted  his  mind  to  dwell  upon  her 
for  an  instant,  after  the  Sunday  walk.  He  made  him- 
self tell  himself  that  she  was  a  charming  child  whom 
he  felt  great  pity  for,  on  account  of  her  lonely  life. 
That  he  himself  took  a  special  interest  in  her  he  would 
not  have  admitted  for  a  second  to  his  innermost  thought. 

152 


HALCYONE 

He  had  now  definitely  made  up  his  mind  to  propose  to 
Cecilia  Cricklander,  and  was  only  awaiting  a  suitable 
occasion  to  put  this  intention  into  effect. 

Numbers  of  moments  had  come  —  and  passed  —  but 
he  was  always  able  to  find  good  and  sufficient  fault  with 
them.  And  once  or  twice,  when  Fate  itself  seemed  to 
arrange  things  for  him,  he  had  a  sudden  sensation  as 
of  a  swimmer  fighting  with  the  tide,  and  he  had  battled 
to  the  shore  again,  and  was  still  free! 

But  it  must  come,  of  course,  and  before  he  left  for 
London  at  the  end  of  the  week.  Private  news  had 
reached  him  that  the  Government  must  soon  go  out, 
and  he  felt  this  thing  must  be  an  accomplished  fact 
before  then,  for  the  hand  he  meant  to  play. 

But  meanwhile  it  was  only  Tuesday,  and  he  was  near- 
ing  the  battered  and  nail-bestudded  front  door  of  La 
Sarthe  Chase.  William  said  the  ladies  were  at  home,  and 
he  was  shown  into  the  Italian  parlor  forthwith. 

It  had  not  changed  in  the  slightest  degree  in  the 
seven  years  since  he  had  seen  it  first,  nor  had  the  two 
ancient  spinsters  themselves.  They  were  most  gra- 
ciously glad  to  receive  him,  and  gave  him  tea  out 
of  the  thinnest  china  cups,  and  at  last  Miss  Roberta 
said: 

"  Our  great-niece  Halcyone  will  be  coming  down  in 
a  moment,  Mr.  Derringham.  She  has  grown  up  into 
a  very  tall  girl.  You  will  hardly  recognize  her,  I  ex- 
pect." 

And  at  that  instant  Halcyone  opened  the  door  and 
said  a  quiet  word  of  welcome.     And  if  her  heart  beat 

153 


HALCYON E 

rather  faster  than  usual  under  her  simple  serge  bodice, 
nothing  of  any  emotion  showed  in  her  tranquil  face. 

She  took  her  tea  and  sat  down  in  a  chair  rather  in 
the  shadows  and  aloof. 

Miss  La  Sarthe  monopolized  the  conversation.  She 
had  no  intention  of  relinquishing  the  pleasure  of  this 
rare  guest,  so  while  Miss  Roberta  got  in  a  few  sen- 
tences, Halcyone  hardly  spoke  a  word,  and  if  she  had 
really  been  a  coquette,  calculating  her  actions,  she  could 
not  have  piqued  John  Derringham  more. 

She  looked  so  very  sylph-like  as  she  sat  there,  bending 
her  graceful  head.  Her  eyes  were  all  in  shadow  and 
seemed  to  gleam  as  things  of  mystery  from  under  her 
dark  brows,  while  the  pure  lines  of  her  temples  and  the 
planting  of  her  soft  thick  hair  made  him  think  of  some 
virgin  goddess. 

But  she  never  spoke. 

At  last  John  Derringham  began  to  grow  exasperated, 
and  plunged  into  temptation,  which  he  did  not  admit 
that  he  ought  to  have  avoided. 

"  I  am  so  very  much  interested  in  this  wonderful 
old  house,"  he  said,  addressing  Miss  La  Sarthe.  "  That 
row  of  bay  windows  is  in  a  long  gallery,  I  suppose? 
Would  it  be  a  great  impertinence  if  I  asked  to  see 
it?" 

"  We  shall  be  pleased  for  you  to  do  so,"  the  old  lady 
returned,  without  much  warmth.  "  It  is  very  cold  and 
draughty,  my  sister  and  I  have  not  entered  it  for  many 
years,  but  Halcyone,  I  believe,  goes  there  sometimes ; 
she  will  show  it  to  you  if  you  wish." 

154 


HALC YONE 

Hale j one  rose,  ready  at  once  to  obey  her  aunts,  and 
led  the  way  towards  the  door. 

"  We  had  better  go  up  the  great  staircase  and  along 
through  Sir  Timothy's  rooms.  The  staircase  which 
leads  directly  to  it  from  the  hall  is  not  quite  safe," 
she  said.  "  Except  for  me,"  she  added,  when  they 
were  outside  the  door.  "  Then,  I  know  exactly  where 
to  put  my  feet !  " 

"  I  would  follow  you  blindly,"  said  John  Derringham, 
"  but  we  will  go  which  way  you  will.  Only,  you  are 
such  a  strange,  silent  little  old  friend  now  —  I  am  afraid 
of  you!" 

Halcyone  was   rather  ahead,   leading  the   way,   and 
she  turned  and  paused  while  he  came  up  close  beside  her. 
Her  eyes  were  quite  startled. 
"  You  afraid  of  me ! "  she  said. 

"  Yes  —  you  seem  so  nymph-like  and  elusive.  I  do 
not  know  if  I  am  really  looking  at  an  ordinary  earth- 
maiden,  or  whether  you  will  melt  away." 

"  I  am  quite  real,"  and  she  smiled,  "  but  now  you 
must  notice  these  two  rooms  a  little  that  we  shall  pass 
through.  They  are  very  ghostly  I  think;  they  were 
the  Sir  Timothy's  who  went  to  fetch  James  I  from 
Scotland.  I  am  glad  they  are  not  mine,  but  the  long 
gallery  I  love ;  it  is  my  sitting-room  —  my  very  own  — 
and  in  it  I  keep  something  which  matters  to  me  more 
than  anything  else  in  the  world."  Then  she  went  on, 
with  a  divine  shyness  which  thrilled  her  companion: 
"  And  —  I  do  not  know  why  —  but  I  think  I  will  show 
it  to  you." 

155 


HALCYONE 


a 


Yes,  please  do  that,"  he  responded  eagerly,  "  and 
do  not  let  us  stop  to  look  at  the  ghostly  apartments  — 
where  you  sit  interests  me  far  more." 

So  they  went  rapidly  through  Sir  Timothy's  rooms, 
with  the  great  state  bed  where  had  slept  his  royal  mas- 
ter, so  the  tale  ran,  and  on  down  some  uneven  steps, 
and  through  a  small  door,  and  there  found  themselves 
in  the  long,  narrow  room,  with  its  bays  along  the  south- 
ern side,  and  one  splendid  mullioned  casement  at  the 
end  with  coats-of-arms  emblazoned  upon  each  division. 
And  through  this,  which  looked  west,  there  poured 
the  lowered  afternoon  sun  with  a  broad  shaft  of  glorious 
light. 

The  place  was  almost  empty,  but  for  a  chest  or  two 
and  a  table  near  this  window  with  writing  materials  and 
books.  And  upon  a  rough  set  of  shelves  close  at  hand 
niany  more  volumes  reposed. 

"  So  it  is  here  you  live  and  work,  you  wise,  lonely, 
little  Pallas  Athene,"  he  said. 

"  You  must  not  call  me  that  —  I  am  not  at  all  like 
her,"  Halcyone  answered  softly.  "  She  was  very 
clever  and  very  noble  —  but  a  little  hard,  I  think.  Wait 
until  I  have  shown  you  my  own  goddess.  I  would 
rather  have  her  soul  than  any  other  of  the  Olympian 
gods." 

John  Derringham  took  a  step  nearer  to  her. 

"  Do  you  remember  the  night  at  dinner  here  when 
you  told  me  Pallas  Athene's  words  to  Perseus?  "  he  said. 
"  I  have  thought  of  them  often,  and  they  have  helped 
me  sometimes,  I  think." 

156 


HALCYONE 

"  I  am  so  glad,"  said  Halcyone  simply,  while  she 
moved  towards  her  treasure  chest. 

He  watched  her  with  satisfied  eyes  —  every  action 
of  hers  was  full  of  grace,  and  the  interest  he  felt  in 
her  personally  obscured  any  for  the  moment  in  what 
she  was  going  to  show  him,  but  at  last  he  became  aware 
that  she  had  unlocked  a  cupboard  drawer,  and  was  tak- 
ing; from  it  a  bundle  of  blue  silk. 

His  curiosity  was  aroused,  and  he  went  over  as  near  as 
he  could. 

"  Come !  "  whispered  Halcyone,  and  walked  to  the  high 
window-sill  of  the  middle  section,  and  then  put  down 
her  burden  upon  the  old  faded  velvet  seat. 

"  See,  I  will  take  off  her  veil  gradually,"  she  said, 
"  and  you  must  tell  me  of  what  she  makes  you  think." 

John  Derringham  was  growing  interested  by  now, 
but  had  no  idea  in  the  world  of  the  marvel  he  was  going 
to  see.  He  started  more  perceptibly  than  even  Mr. 
Carlyon  had  done  seven  years  before,  when  he  had  re- 
alized the  superlative  beauty  of  the  Greek  head. 

Halcyone  uncovered  it  reverently,  and  then  took  a 
step  back,  and  waited  silently  for  him  to  speak. 

He  looked  long  into  the  marvelous  face,  and  then  he 
said  as  though  he  were  dreaming: 

"  Aphrodite  herself !  " 

"  Ah !  I  felt  you  would  know  and  recognize  her  at 
once  —  Yes,  that  is  her  name.  Oh,  I  am  glad !  "  and 
Halcyone  clapped  her  hands.  "  She  is  my  mother,  and 
so,  you  see,  I  am  never  alone  here,  for  she  speaks  always 
to  me  of  love." 

157 


HALCYONE 

John  Derringham  looked  at  her  sharply  as  she  said 
this,  and  in  her  eyes  he  saw  two  wells  of  purity,  each 
with  an  evening  star  melted  into  its  depths. 

And  he  suddenly  was  conscious  of  something  which 
his  whole  life  had  missed  —  for  he  knew  he  did  not  know 
what  real  love  meant,  not  even  that  which  his  mother 
might  have  given  him,  if  she  had  lived. 

He  did  not  speak  for  a  moment;  he  gazed  into  Hal- 
cyone's  face.  It  seemed  as  if  a  curtain  had  lifted 
for  one  instant  and  given  him  a  momentary  glimpse  into 
some  heaven,  and  then  dropped  again,  leaving  a  haunting 
memory  of  sweetness,  the  more  beautiful  because  in- 
distinct. 

"  Love  — "  he  said,  still  dreamily.  "  Surely  there  is 
yet  another  and  a  deeper  kind  of  love." 

Halcyone  raised  her  head,  while  a  strange  look  grew 
in  her  wide  eyes,  almost  of  fear.  It  was  as  though  he 
had  put  into  words  some  unspoken,  unadmitted  thought. 

"  Yes,"  she  said  very  softly,  "  I  feel  there  is  —  but 
that  is  not  all  peace;  that  must  be  gloriously  terrible, 
because  it  would  mean  life." 

He  looked  at  her  fully  now;  there  was  not  an  atom 
of  coquetry  or  challenge;  her  face  was  pale  and  ex- 
quisite in  its  simple  intentness.  He  turned  to  the  god- 
dess again,  and  almost  chaunted: 

"  Oh !  Aphrodite  of  the  divine  lips  and  soulful  eyes, 
what  mystery  do  you  hold  for  us  mortals?  What  do 
you  promise  us?  What  do  you  make  us  pay?  Is  the 
good  worth  the  anguish?  Is  the  fulfillment  a  cup  worth 
draining  —  without  counting  the  cost?" 

158 


HALCYONE 


a 


What  does  she  answer  you?"  whispered  Halcyone. 
"  Does  she  say  that  to  live  and  fulfill  destiny  as  the 
beautiful  year  does  is  the  only  good?  It  is  wiser  not 
to  question  and  weigh  the  worth,  for  even  though  we 
would  not  drink,  perhaps  we  cannot  escape  —  since 
there  is  Fate." 

John  Derringham  pulled  himself  together  with  an 
effort.  He  felt  he  was  drifting  into  wonderland,  where 
the  paths  were  too  tenderly  sweet  and  flowered  for  him 
to  dare  to  linger,  for  there  he  might  find  and  quaff  of 
the  poison  cup.  So  he  said  in  a  voice  which  he  strove 
to  bring  back  to  earth: 

"  Where  did  you  get  the  beautiful  thing?  She  is  of 
untold  value,  of  course  you  know?  " 

Halcyone  took  the  marble  into  her  hands  lovingly. 

"  She  came  to  me  out  of  the  night,"  she  said.  "  Some 
day  I  might  tell  you  how  —  but  not  to-day.  I  must  put 
her  back  again.  No  one  knows  but  Cheiron  and  me  — 
and  now  —  you  —  that  she  is  in  existence,  and  no  one 
else  must  ever  know." 

He  did  not  speak;  he  watched  her  while  she  wrapped 
the  head  in  its  folds  of  silk. 

"  Aphrodite  never  had  so  true  a  priestess,  nor  one 
so  pure,"  he  thought,  and  a  strange  feeling  of  sadness 
came  over  him,  and  he  thanked  her  rather  abruptly  for 
showing  him  her  treasure,  and  they  went  silently  back 
through  Sir  Timothy's  rooms,  and  down  the  stair; 
and  in  the  Italian  parlor  he  said  good-by  at  once,  and 
left. 

The  wind  had  got  up  and  blew  freshly  in  his  face. 

159 


HALCYONE 

There  would  be  a  gale  before  morning.  It  suited  his 
mood.  He  struck  across  the  park,  but  instead  of  mak- 
ing for  the  haw-haw,  he  turned  into  Cheiron's  little 
gate.  He  wanted  understanding  company,  he  wanted 
to  talk  cynical  philosophy,  and  he  wanted  the  stimulus 
of  his  old  master's  biting  wit. 

But  when  he  got  there,  he  found  Cheiron  very  tac- 
iturn —  contributing  little  more  than  a  growl  now  and 
then,  while  he  smoked  his  long  pipe  and  played  with 
his  beard.     So  at  last  he  got  up  to  go. 

"  I  have  made  up  my  mind  to  marry  Mrs.  Cricklander, 
Master,"  he  said. 

"  I  supposed  so,"  the  Professor  replied  dryly.  "  A 
man  always  has  to  convince  himself  he  is  doing  a  fine 
thing  when  he  gives  himself  up  to  be  hanged." 


CHAPTER  XVII 

^— J'OHN  DERRINGHAM  reached  Wendover  — 
O  1  by  the  road  and  the  lodge  gates  —  in  an  impos- 
\^^*  sible  temper.  He  had  left  the  orchard  house 
coming  as  near  to  a  quarrel  with  his  old  master  as  such 
a  thing  could  be.  He  absolutely  refused  to  let  himself 
dwell  upon  the  anger  he  had  felt;  and  if  Fate  had 
given  him  a  distinct  and  pointed  chance  to  ask  the  fair 
Cecilia  for  her  lily  hand,  when  he  knocked  at  her  sit- 
ting-room door  before  dinner,  he  would  no  doubt  have 
left  the  next  day  —  summoned  again  to  London  by  his 
Chief  —  an  engaged  man.  But  this  turn  of  events  was 
not  in  the  calculations  of  Destiny  for  the  moment,  and 
he  found  no  less  a  person  than  Mr.  Hanbury-Green  al- 
ready ensconced  by  his  hostess's  side.  They  were  both 
smoking  and  looked  very  comfortable  and  at  ease. 

"  I  just  came  in  to  tell  you  I  shall  be  obliged  to  tear 
myself  away  to-morrow,"  John  Derringham  said,  "  and 
cannot  have  the  pleasure  of  staying  to  the  end  of  the 
week  in  this  delightful  place." 

Mrs.  Cricklander  got  up  from  her  reclining  position 
among  the  cushions.  This  was  a  blow.  She  wished 
now  she  had  not  encouraged  Mr.  Hanbury-Green  to 
come  and  sit  with  her;  it  might  be  a  lost  opportunity 
which  it  would  be  difficult  to  recapture  again.     But  she 

161 


H  A  L  C  Y  O  N  E 

had  felt  so  very  much  annoyed  at  Mr.  Derringham's 
capriciousness,  displayed  the  whole  of  the  Monday, 
and  then  at  his  absenting  himself  to-day,  having  gone 
to  see  the  Professor,  of  course  —  since  he  was  out  of  the 
house  at  tea-time  when  she  had  sent  to  his  room  to  en- 
quire —  that  she  had  determined  to  see  what  a  little 
jealousy  would  do  for  him.  But  if  he  were  off  on 
the  morrow  this  might  not  be  a  safe  moment  to  try  it. 

Mr.  Hanbury-Green,  however,  had  not  the  slightest 
intention  of  giving  up  his  place,  in  spite  of  several 
well-directed  hints,  and  sat  on  like  one  belonging  to  the 
spot. 

So  they  all  had  to  go  off  to  dress  without  any  longed- 
for  word  having  been  spoken.  And  Mrs.  Cricklander 
was  far  too  circumspect  a  hostess  to  attempt  to  arrange 
a  tete-a-tete  after  dinner  under  the  eye  of  an  important 
social  leader  like  Lady  Maulevrier,  whom  she  had  only 
just  succeeded  in  enticing  to  stay  in  her  country  house. 
So,  with  the  usual  semi-political  chaff,  the  evening 
passed,  and  good-nights  and  good-bys  were  said,  and 
early  next  day  John  Derringham  left  for  London. 

He  would  write  —  he  decided  —  and  all  the  way  up 
in  the  train  he  buried  himself  in  the  engrossing  letters 
and  papers  he  had  received  from  his  Chief  by  the  morn- 
ing's post. 

And  for  the  next  six  weeks  he  was  in  such  a  turmoil 
of  hard  work  and  deep  and  serious  questions  about  a 
foreign  State  that  he  very  seldom  had  time  to  go  into 
society,  and  when  at  last  he  was  a  little  more  free,  Mrs. 
Cricklander,  he   found,  had  not  returned   from   Paris, 

162 


HALCYONE 

whither  she  always  went  several  times  a  year  for  her 
clothes. 

But  they  had  written  to  one  another  once  or  twice. 

He  had  promised  in  the  last  letter  that  he  would  go 
down  to  Wendover  again  for  Whitsuntide,  and  this  time 
he  firmly  determined  nothing  should  keep  him  from  his 
obvious  and  delectable  fate. 

Mrs.  Cricklander  had  no  haunting  fears  now.  She 
could  discover  no  reason  for  John  Derringham's  change 
towards  her.  Arabella  had  been  mute  and  had  put  it 
down  to  the  stress  of  his  life.  This  tension  with  the 
foreign  State,  it  leaked  out,  had  been  known  to  the  Min- 
isters for  a  week  before  it  had  been  made  public  — 
that,  of  course,  was  the  cause  of  his  preoccupation, 
and  she  would  simply  order  some  especially  irresistible 
garments  in  Paris,  and  bide  her  time. 

He  wrote  the  most  charming  letters,  though  they 
were  hardly  long  enough  to  be  called  anything  but  notes ; 
but  there  was  always  the  insinuation  in  them  that  she 
was  the  one  person  in  the  world  who  understood 
him,  and  they  were  expressed  with  his  usual  cultivated 
taste. 

It  was  sheer  force  of  will  that  kept  John  Derringham 
from  ever  thinking  of  Halcyone.  He  resolutely  crushed 
the  thought  of  her  every  time  it  presented  itself,  and 
systematically  turned  to  his  work  and  plunged  into 
it,  if  even  a  mental  vision  of  her  came  to  his  mind's 
eye. 

He  felt  quite  calm  and  safe  when,  two  days  before 
he  was  expected  at  Wendover,  the  idea  came  to  him  to 

163 


HALCYONE 

propose  himself  to  the  Professor,  so  as  not  to  have  to 
go  and  see  him  and  endure  his  cynical  reflections  after 
he  should  be  engaged  to  his  hostess. 

Mr.  Carlyon  had  wired  back,  "  Come  if  you  like," 
and  on  this  evening  in  early  June  John  Derringham 
arrived  at  the  orchard  house. 

Cheiron  made  no  allusion  to  the  matter  that  had 
caused  them  to  part  with  some  breez}-  words  upon  his  old 
pupil's  side.  Mrs.  Cricklander  or  Wendover  might  not 
have  existed;  their  talk  was  upon  philosophy  and  poli- 
tics, and  contained  not  the  shadow  of  a  woman  —  even 
Halcvone  was  not  mentioned  at  all. 

Whitsuntide  fell  late  that  year,  at  the  end  of  the 
first  week  in  June,  and  the  spring  having  been  excep- 
tionally mild,  the  foliage  was  all  in  full  beauty  of  the 
freshest  green. 

It  was  astonishingly  hot,  and  every  divine  scent  of 
the  night  came  to  John  Derringham  as  he  went  out 
into  the  garden  before  going  to  bed.  A  young  setting 
half-moon  still  hung  in  the  sky,  and  there  were  stars. 
One  of  those  nights  when  all  the  mystery  of  life  seems 
to  be  revealing  itself  in  the  one  word  —  Love.  The 
nightingale  throbbed  out  its  note  in  the  copse  amidst  a 
perfect  stillness,  and  the  ground  was  soft  without  a 
drop  of  dew. 

John  Derringham,  hatless,  and  with  his  hands  plunged 
in  the  pockets  of  his  dinner  coat,  wandered  down  the 
garden  towards  the  apple  tree,  picking  an  early  red 
rosebud  as  he  passed  a  bush  —  its  scent  intoxicated  him 
a  little.     Then  he  went  to  the  gate,  and,  opening  it, 

164. 


HALCYONE 

he  strolled  into  the  park.  Here  was  a  vaster  and  more 
perfect  view.  It  was  all  clothed  in  the  unknown  of 
the  half  dark,  and  yet  he  could  distinguish  the  out- 
line of  the  giant  trees.  He  went  on  as  if  in  some  de- 
licious dream,  which  yet  had  some  heart-break  in  it, 
and  at  last  he  came  to  the  tree  where  he  and  Halcyone 
had  sat  those  seven  years  ago,  when  she  had  told  him 
of  what  consisted  the  true  point  of  honor  in  a  man.  He 
remembered  it  all  vividly,  her  very  words  and  the  cloud 
of  her  soft  hair  which  had  blown  a  little  over  his  face. 
He  sat  down  upon  the  fallen  log  that  had  been  made 
into  a  rude  bench;  and  there  he  gazed  in  front  of  him, 
unconscious  now  of  any  coherent  thought. 

Suddenly  he  was  startled  by  a  laugh  so  near  him 
and  so  soft  that  he  believed  himself  to  be  dreaming, 
but  he  looked  round  and  quickly  rose  to  his  feet,  and 
there  at  the  other  side  of  the  tree  he  saw  standing  the 
ethereal  figure  of  a  girl,  while  her  filmy  gray  garments 
seemed  to  melt  into  the  night. 

"  Halcyone  !  "  he  gasped.     "  And  from  where  ?  " 

"  Ah ! "  she  said  as  she  came  towards  him.  "  You 
have  invaded  my  kingdom.  Mortal,  what  right  have 
you  to  the  things  of  the  night  ?  They  belong  to  me  — 
who  know  them  and  love  them." 

"  Then  have  compassion  upon  me,  sweet  dryad ! "  he 
pleaded,  "  who  am  but  a  pilgrim  who  cannot  see  his 
way.  Let  me  shelter  under  your  protection  and  be 
guided  aright." 

She  laughed  again  —  a  ripple  of  silver  that  he  had 
not   guessed   her  voice   possessed.     Her  whole   bearing 

165 


HALCYONE 

was  changed  from  the  reserved,  demure  and  rather  timid 
creature  whom  he  knew.  She  was  a  sprite  now,  or  a 
nymph,  or  even  a  goddess,  for  her  brow  was  imperious 
and  her  mien  one  of  assured  command. 

"  This  is  my  kingdom,"  she  said,  "  and  if  you  obey 
me,  I  will  show  you  things  of  which  you  have  never 
dreamed  — "  and  then  she  came  towards  the  tree  and  sat 
upon  the  high  forked  branch  of  the  broken  bough 
while  she  pointed  with  shadowy  finger  to  the  part  which 
was  a  bench.  "  Sit  there,  Man  of  Day,"  she  ordered, 
"  for  you  cannot  see  beyond  your  hand.  You  cannot 
know  how  the  living  things  are  creeping  about,  un- 
afraid now  of  your  cruel  power.  You  cannot  discern 
the  difference  in  the  colors  of  the  fresh  young  bracken 
and  the  undergrowth ;  you  cannot  perceive  the  birds 
asleep  in  the  tree." 

"No,  indeed,  Lady  of  Night,"  he  said,  "I  admit 
I  am  but  a  mole,  but  you  will  let  me  perceive  them  with 
your  eyes,  will  you  not  ?  " 

She  slipped  from  her  perch  suddenly,  before  he  could 
put  out  a  protesting  hand  to  stop  her,  and  glided  out 
of  his  view  into  the  dark  of  the  copse,  and  from  there 
he  heard  the  intoxicating  silver  laughter  which  mad- 
dened his  every  sense. 

"Halcyone!  Witch!"  he  called.  "Come  back  to 
me  —  I  am  afraid,  all  alone !  " 

So  she  came,  appearing  like  a  materializing  wraith 
from  the  shadow,  and  with  an  undulating  movement  of 
incredible  grace  she  was  again  seated  upon  her  perch, 
the  fallen  forked  branch  of  the  tree. 

166 


HALCYONE 

John  Derringham  was  experiencing  the  strongest  emo- 
tion he  had  ever  felt  in  his  life. 

A  maddening  desire  to  seize  the  elusive  joy  —  to  come 
nearer  —  to  assure  himself  that  she  was  real  and  not  a 
spirit  of  night  sent  to  torture  and  elude  him  —  overcame 
all  other  thought.  The  startling  change  from  her  de- 
portment of  the  day  —  the  very  way  she  glided  about 
was  as  the  movement  of  some  other  being. 

And  as  those  old  worshipers  of  Dionysus  had  grown 
intoxicated  with  the  night  and  the  desire  of  communion 
with  the  beyond,  so  he  —  John  Derringham  —  cool,  cal- 
culating English  statesman  —  felt  himself  being  drawn 
into  a  current  of  emotion  and  enthrallment  whose  end 
could  only  be  an  ecstasy  of  which  he  did  not  yet  dare 
to  dream. 

It  was  all  so  abnormal  —  to  see  her  here,  a  shadow, 
a  tantalizing  soft  shadow  with  a  new  personality  —  it 
was  no  wonder  he  rubbed  his  eyes  and  asked  himself  if 
he  were  awake. 

"  Come  with  me,"  she  whispered,  bending  nearer  to 
him,  "  and  I  will  show  you  how  the  wild  roses  grow  at 
night." 

"  I  will  follow  you  to  Hades,"  he  said,  "  but  I  warn 
you  I  cannot  see  a  yard  beyond  my  nose.  You  must 
lead  me  with  your  hand,  if  so  ethereal  a  spirit  possesses 
a  hand." 

Again  the  silver  laugh,  and  he  saw  her  not,  but  pres- 
ently she  appeared  from  behind  the  tree.  She  had  let 
down  her  misty,  mouse-colored  hair,  and  it  floated  around 
her  like  a  cloud. 

12  167 


HALCYONE 

Then  she  slipped  a  cool,  soft  set  of  fingers  into  his, 
and  led  him  onward,  with  sure  and  certain  steps,  while 
he  blundered,  not  knowing  where  to  put  his  feet,  and 
all  the  time  she  turned  every  few  seconds  and  looked 
at  him,  and  he  could  just  distinguish  the  soft  mystery 
of  her  eyes,  while  now  and  then,  as  she  walked,  a  tendril 
of  her  floating  hair  flew  out  and  caressed  his  face,  as 
once  before,  long  ago. 

"  There  are  fairy  things  all  about  us,"  she  said. 
"  Countless  pink  campions  and  buttercups,  with  an  elf 
in  each.  They  will  feel  your  giant  feet,  but  they  will 
know  you  are  a  mortal  and  cannot  help  your  ways, 
because,  you  poor,  blind  bat,  you  cannot  see !  " 

"And  you?"  he  asked.  "Who  gave  you  these 
eyes  ?  " 

"  My  mother,"  she  answered  softly,  "  the  Goddess  of 
the  Night." 

And  then  she  drew  him  on  rapidly  and  stealthily, 
and  he  saw  at  last,  in  the  open  space  where  the  stars 
and  the  sinking  moon  gave  more  light,  that  they  were 
approaching  the  broken  gate,  and  were  near  the  terraced 
garden,  which  now  was  better  kept. 

When  they  got  to  this  barrier  to  their  path,  Halcyone 
paused  and  leaned  upon  it. 

"  Mortal,"  she  said,  "  you  are  wandering  in  a  maze. 
You  have  come  thus  far  because  I  have  led  you,  but  you 
would  have  fallen  if  you  had  walked  so  fast  alone. 
Now  look,  and  I  will  show  you  the  lily-of-the-valley  cups 
—  there  are  only  a  few  there  under  the  shelter  of  the 
gray  stone  arch.      Come." 

168 


HALCYONE 

And  she  opened  the  gate,  letting  go  of  his  hand  as  she 
glided  beyond. 

"  I  cannot  and  will  not  hazard  a  step  if  you  leave  me," 
he  called,  and  she  came  back  and  gave  him  again  her 
soft  fingers  to  hold.  So  at  last  they  reached  the  sum- 
mer house  at  the  end  of  the  second  terrace,  where  the 
archway  was  where  old  William  kept  his  tools. 

There  were  very  few  flowers  out,  but  a  mass  of  wild 
roses,  and  still  some  May  tulips  bloomed,  while  from 
the  meadow  beneath  them  came  that  indescribable  fresh- 
ness which  young  clover  gives. 

John  Derringham  knew  now  that  he  was  dreaming  — 
or  drunk  with  some  nectar  which  was  not  of  earth.  And 
still  she  led  him  on,  and  then  pointed  to  the  old  bench 
which  he  could  just  see. 

"  We  shall  sit  here,"  she  said,  "  and  Aphrodite  shall 
tell  us  your  future  —  for  see,  she,  too,  loves  the  night 
and  comes  here  with  me." 

And  to  his  intense  astonishment,  as  he  peered  on  to 
the  table,  he  saw  a  misty  mass  of  folds  of  silk,  and 
there  lay  the  goddess's  head,  that  Halcyone  had  shown 
to  him  that  day  in  the  long  gallery  more  than  a  month 
ago. 

He  was  so  petrified  with  surprise  at  the  whole  thing 
that  he  had  ceased  to  reason.  Everything  came  now 
as  a  matter  of  course,  like  the  preposterous  sequence 
of  events  in  a  dream.  The  Aphrodite  lay,  as  a  woman 
caressed,  half  buried  in  her  silken  folds,  but  Halcyone 
lifted  her  up  and  propped  her  against  a  stone  vase  which 
was  near,  letting  the  silk  fall  so  that  the  broken  neck 

169 


HALCYONE 

did  not  show,  and  it  seemed  as  if  a  living  woman's  face 
gazed  down  upon  them. 

John  Derringham's  eyes  were  growing  more  accus- 
tomed to  the  darkness,  or  Halcyone  really  had  some 
magic  power,  for  it  seemed  to  him  that  he  could  see  the 
divine  features  quite  clearly. 

"  She  is  saying,"  the  soft  voice  of  his  companion 
whispered  in  his  ear,  "  that  all  the  things  you  will  grasp 
with  your  hands  are  but  dreams  —  and  the  things  that 
you  now  believe  to  be  dreams  are  all  real." 

"And  are  you  a  dream,  you  sweet?"  asked  John 
Derringham.  "  Or  are  you  tangible,  and  must  I  drink 
the  poison  cup,  after  all?  " 

"  I  would  give  you  no  noxious  wine,"  she  answered. 
"  If  you  were  strong  and  wise  and  true,  only  the  fire 
which  I  have  stolen  from  heaven  could  come  to  you." 

"  Long  ago,"  he  said,  "  you  gave  me  an  oak-leaf, 
dryad,  and  I  have  kept  it  still.  What  now  will  you 
grant  to  me?  " 

"  Nothing,  since  you  fear  — "  and  she  drew  back. 

"  I  do  not  fear,"  he  answered  wildly.  "  Halcyone ! 
—  sweetheart !  I  want  you  —  here  —  next  my  heart. 
Give  me  —  yourself !  " 

Then  he  stretched  out  his  arms  and  drew  her  to  him, 
all  soft  and  loving  and  unresisting,  and  he  pressed  his  lips 
to  her  pure  and  tender  lips.  And  it  seemed  as  if  the 
heavens  opened,  and  the  Night  poured  down  all  that  was 
divine  of  bliss. 

But  before  he  could  be  sure  that  indeed  he  held  her 
safely  in  his  arms,  she  started  forward,  releasing  her- 

170 


HALCYONE 

self.  Then,  clasping  Aphrodite  and  her  silken  folds, 
with  a  bound  she  was  far  beyond  him,  and  had  disap- 
peared in  the  shadow  of  the  archway,  on  whose  curve 
the  last  rays  of  moonlight  played,  so  that  he  saw  it  out- 
lined and  clear. 

He  strode  forward  to  follow  her,  but  to  his  amaze- 
ment, when  he  reached  the  place,  she  seemed  to  vanish 
absolutely  in  front  of  his  eyes,  and  although  he  lit  a 
match  and  searched  everywhere,  not  the  slightest  trace 
of  her  could  he  find,  and  there  was  no  opening  or  pos- 
sible corner  into  which  she  could  have  disappeared. 

Absolutely  dumbfounded,  he  groped  his  way  back 
to  the  bench,  and  sitting  down  buried  his  head  in  his 
hands.  Surely  it  was  all  a  dream,  then,  and  he  had  been 
drunk  —  with  the  Professor's  Falernian  wine  —  and  had 
wandered  here  and  slept.  But,  God  of  all  the  nights, 
what  an  exquisite  dream! 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

^I^^^HE  half-moon  set,  and  the  night  became  much 
■  *•  j  darker  before  John  Derringham  rose  from  his 
^^^^r  seat  by  the  bench.  A  stupor  had  fallen  upon 
him.  He  had  ceased  to  reason.  Then  he  got  up  and 
made  his  way  back  to  the  orchard  house,  under  the 
myriads  of  pale  stars,  which  shone  with  diminished 
brilliancy  from  the  luminous  summer  night  sky. 

Here  he  seemed  to  grow  material  again  and  to  realize 
that  he  was  indeed  awake.  But  what  had  happened  to 
him?  Whether  he  had  been  dreaming  or  no,  a  spell 
had  fallen  upon  him  —  he  had  drunk  of  the  poison  cup. 
And  Halcyone  filled  his  mind.  He  thrilled  and  thrilled 
again  as  he  remembered  the  exquisite  joy  of  their  ten- 
der embrace  —  even  though  it  had  been  no  real  thing, 
but  a  dream,  it  was  still  the  divinest  good  his  life  had 
yet  known. 

But  what  could  it  lead  to  if  it  were  real?  Noth- 
ing but  sorrow  and  parting  and  regret.  For  his  ca- 
reer still  mattered  to  him,  he  knew,  now  that  he  was 
in  his  sane  senses  again,  more  than  anything  else  in  the 
world.  And  he  could  not  burden  himself  with  a  poor, 
uninfluential  girl  as  a  wife,  even  though  the  joy  of  it 
took  them  both  to  heaven. 

The  emotion  he  was  experiencing  was  one  quite  new 

172 


HALCYONE 

to  him,  and  he  almost  resented  it,  because  it  was  up- 
setting some  of  his  beliefs. 

The  next  day,  at  breakfast,  the  Professor  remarked 
that  he  looked  pale. 

"  You  rather  overwork,  John,"  he  said.  "  To  lie 
about  the  garden  here  and  not  have  to  follow  the  ca- 
prices of  fashionable  ladies  at  Wendover,  would  do  you 
a  power  of  good." 

There  was  no  sight  of  Halcyone  all  the  day.  She 
was  living  in  a  paradise,  but  hers  contained  no  doubts  or 
uncertainties.  She  knew  that  indeed  she  had  lived  and 
breathed  the  night  before,  and  found  complete  happiness 
in  John  Derringham's  arms. 

That,  then,  was  what  Aphrodite  had  always  been  tell- 
ing her.  She  knew  now  the  meaning  of  the  love  in  her 
eyes.  This  glorious  and  divine  thing  had  been  given 
to  her,  too  —  out  of  the  night. 

It  was  fully  perceived  at  last,  not  only  half  glanced 
at  almost  with  fear.  Love  had  come  to  her,  and  what- 
ever might  reck  of  sorrow,  it  meant  her  whole  life  and 
soul. 

And  this  precious  gift  of  the  pure  thing  from  God 
she  had  given  in  her  turn  to  John  Derringham  as  his  lips 
had  pressed  her  lips. 

She  spent  the  whole  day  in  the  garden,  sitting  in  the 
summer  house  surveying  the  world.  The  blue  hills  in 
the  far  distance  were  surely  the  peaks  of  Olympus  and 
she  had  been  permitted  to  know  what  existence  meant 
there. 

Not  a  doubt  of  him  entered  her  heart,  or  a  fear.     He 

173 


HALCYONE 

certainly  loved  her  as  she  loved  him;  they  had  been 
created  for  each  other  since  the  beginning  of  time. 
And  it  was  only  a  question  of  arrangement  when  she 
should  go  away  with  him  and  never  part  any  more. 

Marriage,  as  a  ceremony  in  church,  meant  nothing  to 
her.  Some  such  thing,  of  course,  must  take  place,  be- 
cause of  the  stupid  conventions  of  the  world,  but  the 
sacrament,  the  real  mating,  was  to  be  together  —  alone. 

In  her  innocent  and  noble  soul  John  Derringham  now 
reigned  as  king.  He  had  never  had  a  rival,  and  never 
would  have  while  breath  stayed  in  her  fair  body. 

By  the  evening  of  that  day  he  had  reasoned  himself 
into  believing  that  the  whole  thing  was  a  dream  —  or,  if 
not  a  dream,  he  had  better  consider  it  as  such;  but  at 
the  same  time,  as  the  dusk  grew,  a  wild  longing  swelled 
in  his  heart  for  its  recurrence,  and  when  the  night  came 
he  could  not  any  longer  control  himself,  and  as  he  had 
done  before  he  wandered  to  the  tree. 

The  moon,  one  day  beyond  its  first  quarter,  was 
growing  brighter,  and  a  strange  and  mysterious  shim- 
mer was  over  everything  as  though  the  heat  of  the  day 
were  rising  to  give  welcome  and  fuse  itself  in  the  night. 

He  was  alone  with  the  bird  who  throbbed  from  the 
copse,  and  as  he  sat  in  the  sublime  stillness  he  fancied 
he  saw  some  does  peep  forth.  They  were  there,  of 
course,  with  their  new-born  fawns. 

But  where  was  she,  the  nymph  of  the  night? 

His  heart  ached,  the  longing  grew  intense  until  it 
was  a  mighty  force.  He  felt  he  could  stride  across 
the  luminous  park  which  separated  them,  and  scale  the 

174 


HALCYONE 

wall  to  the  casement  window  of  the  long  gallery,  to 
clasp  her  once  more  in  his  arms.  And,  as  it  is  with 
all  those  beings  who  have  scorned  and  denied  his  power, 
Love  was  punishing  him  now  by  a  complete  annihilation 
of  his  will.  At  last  he  buried  his  face  in  his  hands ;  it 
was  almost  agony  that  he  felt. 

When  he  uncovered  his  eyes  again  he  saw,  far  in  the 
distance,  a  filmy  shadow.  It  seemed  to  be  now  real,  and 
now  a  wraith,  as  it  flitted  from  tree  to  tree,  but  at  last 
he  knew  it  was  real  —  it  was  she  —  Halcyone !  He 
started  to  his  feet,  and  there  stood  waiting  for  her. 

She  came  with  the  gliding  movement  he  now  knew 
belonged  in  her  dual  personality  to  the  night. 

Her  hair  was  all  unbound,  and  her  garment  was  white. 
All  reason,  all  resolution  left  him.     He  held  out  his 
arms. 

"  My  love !  "  he  cried.  "  I  have  waited  for  you  — 
ah,  so  long !  " 

And  Halcyone  allowed  herself  to  be  clasped  next  his 
heart,  and  then  drawn  to  the  bench,  where  they  sat  down, 
blissfully  content. 

They  had  such  a  number  of  things  to  tell  one  another 
about  love.  He  who  had  always  scoffed  at  its  existence 
was  now  eloquent  in  his  explanation  of  the  mystery. 
And  Halcyone,  who  had  never  had  any  doubts,  put  her 
beautiful  thoughts  into  words.  Love  meant  everything 
—  it  was  just  he,  John  Derringham.  She  was  no  more 
herself,  but  had  come  to  dwell  in  him. 

She  was  tender  and  absolutely  pure  in  her  broad  loy- 
alty, concealing  nothing  of  her  fondness,  letting  him  see 

175 


HALCYONE 

that  if  she  were  Mistress  of  the  Night,  he  was  Master 
of  her  Soul. 

And  the  complete  subservience  of  herself,  the  sublime 
transparency  without  subterfuge  of  her  surrender,  ap- 
pealed to  everything  of  chivalry  which  his  nature  held. 

"  Since  the  beginning,"  she  whispered,  in  that  soft, 
sweet  voice  of  hers  which  seemed  to  him  to  be  of  the 
angels,  "  ever  since  the  beginning,  John,  when  I  was  a 
little  ignorant  girl,  it  has  always  been  you.  You  were 
Jason  and  Theseus  and  Perseus.  You  were  Sir  Bors 
and  Sir  Percival  and  Sir  Lancelot.  And  I  knew  it  was 
just  waiting  —  Fate." 

"  My  sweet,  my  sweet,"  he  murmured,  kissing  her 
hair. 

"  And  the  time  you  came,  when  I  was  so  ugly,"  she 
went  on,  "  and  so  overgrown  —  I  was  sad  then,  because 
I  knew  you  would  not  like  me.  But  the  winds  and  the 
night  were  good  to  me.  I  have  grown,  you  see,  so 
that  I  am  now  more  as  you  would  wish,  but  everything 
has  been  for  you  from  that  first  day  in  the  tree  —  our 
tree." 

That  between  two  lovers  the  thing  could  be  a  game 
never  entered  her  brain.  The  thought  that  it  might  be 
wiser  to  watch  moods  and  play  on  this  one  or  that,  and 
conceal  her  feelings  and  draw  him  on  with  mystery,  could 
meet  with  no  faintest  understanding  in  her  fond  heart. 

She  just  loved  him,  and  belonged  to  him,  and  that  was 
the  whole  meaning  of  heaven  and  earth.  Any  trick  of 
calculation  would  have  been  a  thousand  miles  beneath  her 
feet.     And  while  he  was  there  with  her,  clasping  her 

176 


HALCYONE 

slender  willowy  form  to  his  heart,  John  Derringham  felt 
exalted.  The  importance  of  his  career  dwindled,  the 
imperative  necessity  of  possessing  Halcyone  for  his  very 
own  augmented,  until  at  last  he  whispered  in  her  ear 
as  her  little  head  lay  there  upon  his  breast : 

"  Darling  child,  you  must  marry  me  at  once  —  imme- 
diately —  next  week.  We  will  go  through  whatever  is 
necessary  at  the  registry-office,  and  then  you  must  come 
away  with  me  and  be  my  very  own." 

"  Of  course,"  was  all  she  said. 

"  It  is  absolutely  impossible  that  we  could  let  anyone 
know  about  it  at  present  —  even  Cheiron  — "  he  went 
on,  a  little  hurriedly.  "  The  circumstances  are  such  that 
I  cannot  publicly  own  you  as  my  wife,  although  it  would 
be  my  glory  so  to  do.  I  should  have  to  give  up  my 
whole  career,  because  I  have  no  money  to  keep  a  splendid 
home,  which  would  be  your  due.  But  I  dare  say  these 
things  do  not  matter  to  you  any  more  than  they  do  to 
me.     Is  it  so,  sweet,  darling  child?  " 

"  How  could  they  matter?  "  Halcyone  whispered  from 
the  shelter  of  his  clasped  arms.  "  Of  what  good  would 
they  be  to  me?  I  want  to  be  with  you  when  you  have 
time :  I  want  to  caress  you  when  you  are  tired,  and  com- 
fort you,  and  inspire  you,  and  love  you,  and  bring  you 
peace.  How  could  the  world  —  which  I  do  not  know 
—  matter  to  me  ?  Are  you  not  foolish  to  ask  me  such 
questions,  John !  " 

"  Very  foolish,  my  divine  one,"  he  said,  and  forgot 
what  more  he  would  have  spoken  in  the  delirium  of  a 
worshiping  kiss. 

177 


HALCYONE 

But  presently  he  brought  himself  back  to  facts  again. 

"  Darling,"  he  said,  "  I  will  find  out  exactly  how  every- 
thing can  be  managed,  and  then  you  will  meet  me  here, 
under  tins  tree,  and  we  will  go  away  together  and  be  mar- 
ried, and  for  a  week  at  least  I  will  make  the  time  to  stay 
with  you,  as  your  lover,  and  you  shall  be  absolutely  and 
truty  my  sweetest  wife." 

"  Yes,"  said  Halcj'one,  perfectly  content. 

;i  And  after  that,"  he  went  on,  "  I  will  arrange  that 
you  stay  somewhere  near  me,  so  that  every  moment  that 
I  am  free  I  can  come  back  to  the  loving  glory  of  your 
arms." 

"  I  cannot  think  of  any  other  heaven,"  the  tender 
creature  murmured.  And  then  she  nestled  closer,  and 
her  voice  became  dreamy. 

"  This  is  what  God  means  in  everything,"  she  whis- 
pered. "  In  the  Springtime,  which  is  waiting  for  the 
Summer  —  in  all  the  flowers  and  all  the  trees.  This  is 
the  secret  the  night  has  taught  me  from  the  very  begin- 
ning, when  I  first  was  able  to  spend  the  hours  in  her 


arms." 


Then  this  mystery  of  her  knowledge  of  the  night  he 
had  to  probe;  and  she  told  him,  in  old-world,  romantic 
language,  how  she  had  discovered  the  stairs  and  Aphro- 
dite, and  even  of  the  iron-bound  box  which  she  had  never 
been  able  to  move. 

"  It  contains  some  papers  of  that  Sir  Timothy,  I  ex- 
pect," she  said.  "  We  know  by  the  date  of  the  breast- 
plate that  it  was  when  Cromwell  sent  his  Ironsides  to 

178 


HALCYONE 

search  La  Sarthe  that  he  must  have  escaped  through  the 
door  and  got  to  the  coast;  but  he  was  drowned  crossing 
to  France,  so  no  one  guessed  or  ever  knew  how  he  had 
got  away  —  and  I  expect  the  secret  of  the  passage  died 
with  him,  and  I  was  the  first  one  to  find  it." 

"  Then  what  do  you  make  of  the  goddess's  head?  " 
asked  John  Derringham.     "  Was  that  his,  too?  " 

'  Yes,  I  suppose  so,"  she  answered.  "  He  was  a 
great,  grand  seigneur  —  we  know  of  that  —  and  had 
traveled  much  in  Italy  when  a  young  man,  and  stayed 
at  Florence  especially.  He  married  a  relative  of  the 
Medici  belonging  to  some  female  branch,  and  he  is  even 
said  to  have  been  to  Greece;  but  in  the  court  of  the 
Grand  Duke  of  Tuscany  he  would  certainly  have  learned 
to  appreciate  the  divine  beauty  of  Aphrodite.  He  must 
have  brought  her  from  there  as  well  as  the  Hebe  and 
Artemis,  which  are  not  nearly  so  good.  They  stand  in 
the  hall  —  but  they  say  nothing  to  me." 

'  It  would  be  interesting  to  know  what  the  papers  are 
about,"  John  Derringham  went  on.  "  We  must  look  at 
them  together  some  day  when  you  are  my  wife." 

:  Yes,"  said  Halcyone,  and  thrilled  at  the  thought. 

'  So  it  was  through  the  solid  masonry  you  disappeared 
last  night?  No  wonder,  sprite,  that  I  believed  I  was 
dreaming!     Why  did  you  fly  from  me?     Why?  " 

'  It  was  too  great,  too  glorious  to  take  all  at  once,"  she 
said,  and  with  a  sudden  shyness  she  buried  her  face  in  his 
coat. 

'*  My  darling  sweet  one,"  he  murmured,  drawing  her 

179 


HALCYONE 

to  him,  passion  flaming  once  more.     "  I  could  have  cried 
madly  " —  and  he  quoted  in  Greek : 

"  Wilt  thou  fly  me  and  deny  me? 
By  thine  own  joy  I  vow, 
By  the  grape  upon  the  bough, 
Thou  shalt  seek  me  in  the  midnight,  thou  shalt  love  me 
even  now." 

Mr.  Carlyon  had  not  restricted  Halc}'one's  reading: 
she  knew  it  was  from  the  "  Baccliae  "  of  Euripides,  and 
answered : 

"  Ah,  yes,  and,  you  see,  I  have  sought  you  in  the  mid- 
night, and  I  am  here,  and  I  love  you  —  even  now  !  " 

After  that,  for  a  while  they  both  seemed  to  fall  into  a 
dream  of  bliss.  They  spoke  not,  they  just  sat  close  to- 
gether, his  arms  encircling  her,  her  head  upon  his  breast; 
and  thus  they  watched  the  first  precursors  of  dawn 
streak  the  sky  and,  looking  up,  found  the  stars  had 
faded. 

Halcyone  started  to  her  feet. 

"  Ab !  I  must  go,  dear  lover,"  she  said,  "  though  it 
will  only  be  for  some  few  hours." 

But  John  Derringham  held  her  two  hands,  detaining 
her. 

"  I  will  make  all  the  arrangements  in  these  next  few 
days,"  he  said.  "  I  am  going  to  Wendover  for  Whitsun- 
tide. I  will  get  away  from  there,  though,  and  come 
across  the  park  and  meet  you,  darling,  here  at  our 
tree,  and  we  will  settle  exactly  what  to  do  and  when  to 
go." 

180 


HALCYONE 

Then,  after  a  last  fond,  sweet  embrace,  he  let  her  leave 
him,  and  watched  her  as  she  glided  away  among  the  giant 
trees,  until  she  was  out  of  sight,  a  wild  glory  in  his 
heart. 

For  love,  when  he  wins  after  stress,  leaves  no  room  but 
for  gladness  in  his  worshiper's  soul. 


CHAPTER  XIX 

XT  was  John  Derringham  who  was  taciturn  next 
morning,  not  the  Professor! 
The  light  of  day  has  a  most  sobering  effect, 
and  while  still  exalted  in  a  measure  by  all  the  strong 
forces  of  love,  he  was  enabled  to  review  worldly  events 
with  a  clearer  eye,  and  could  realize  very  well  that  he 
was  going  to  take  a  step  which  would  not  have  a  for- 
warding impetus  upon  his  career,  even  if  it  proved  to  be 
not  one  of  retrogression. 

He  must  give  up  the  thought  of  using  a  rich  wife  as 
an  advancement;  but  then,  on  the  other  hand,  he  would 
gain  a  companion  whose  divine  sweetness  would  be  an 
ennobling  inspiration. 

How  he  could  ever  have  deceived  himself  in  regard  to 
his  feelings  he  wondered  now,  for  he  saw  quite  plainly 
that  he  had  been  drifting  into  loving  her  from  the  first 
moment  he  had  seen  her  that  Good  Friday  morning,  the 
foundations  having  been  laid  years  before,  on  the  day 
in  the  tree. 

He  felt  rather  uncomfortable  about  his  old  master, 
who  he  knew  would  not  approve  of  any  secret  union  with 
Halcyone.  Not  that  Cheiron  would  reck  much  of  con- 
ventionalities, or  care  in  the  least  if  it  were  a  marriage 

182 


HALCYONE 

at  a  registry-office  or  not,  but  he  would  certainly  resent 
any  aspect  of  the  case  which  would  seem  to  put  a  slight 
upon  his  much-loved  protegee  or  place  her  in  a  false  po- 
sition. 

He  would  tell  him  nothing  about  it  until  it  was  an  ac- 
complished fact  and  Halcyone  was  his  wife  —  then  they 
would  let  him  into  the  secret. 

All  the  details  of  what  she  would  have  to  say  to  her 
aunts  in  her  letter  of  farewell  on  leaving  them  would 
have  to  be  thought  out,  too,  so  that  no  pursuit  or  in- 
opportune prying  into  the  truth  would  be  the  conse- 
quence. 

Of  any  possibility  of  her  stepfather's  ultimate  inter- 
ference he  did  not  think,  not  knowing  that  she  had  even 
any  further  connection  with  him.  To  satisfy  in  some 
way  the  ancient  aunts  was  all  that  appeared  a  necessity. 
And  that  was  difficult  enough.  He  had  certainly  under- 
taken no  easy  task,  but  he  did  not  regret  his  decision. 
The  first  and  only  strong  passion  he  had  ever  known  was 
mastering  him. 

But  there  was  yet  one  more  unpleasant  aspect  to  face 
—  that  was  the  situation  regarding  Mrs.  Cricklander. 
He  had  assuredly  not  committed  himself  or  even  acted 
very  unfairly  to  her.  She  had  been  playing  a  game  as 
he  had  been.  He  did  not  flatter  himself  that  she  really 
loved  him  —  now  that  he  knew  what  love  meant  —  and 
her  ambition  could  be  gratified  elsewhere;  but  there  re- 
mained the  fact  that  he  was  engaged  to  stay  with  her 
for  Whitsuntide,  and  whether  to  do  so,  and  plainly  show 
her  that  he  had  meant  nothing  and  only  intended  to  be 
13  183 


HALCYONE 

a  friend,  or  whether  to  throw  the  visit  over,  and  go  to 
London,  returning  just  to  fetch  Halcyone  about  Wednes- 
day, he  could  not  quite  decide. 

Which  would  be  the  best  thing  to  do  ?  It  worried  him 
—  but  not  for  long,  because  indecision  was  not,  as  a  rule, 
one  of  his  characteristics,  and  he  soon  made  up  his  mind 
to  the  former  course. 

He  would  go  to  Wendover  on  Saturday,  as  was  ar- 
ranged, take  pains  to  disabuse  his  hostess's  mind  of  any 
illusion  upon  the  subject  of  his  intentions,  and,  having 
run  over  to  Bristol  this  afternoon  to  give  notice  to  the 
registrar  and  procure  the  license,  he  would  leave  with 
the  other  guests  on  the  Tuesday,  after  lunch,  having 
sent  his  servant  up  to  London  in  the  morning  to  be  out 
of  the  way. 

Then  he  would  sleep  that  night  in  Upminster,  getting 
his  servant  to  leave  what  luggage  he  required  there  —  it 
was  the  junction  for  the  main  line  to  London,  and  so  that 
would  be  easy.  A  motor  could  be  hired,  and  in  it,  on 
the  Wednesday,  he  would  come  to  the  oak  avenue  gate, 
as  that  was  far  at  the  other  side  of  the  park  upon  the 
western  road;  there  he  would  arrange  that  Halcyone 
should  be  waiting  for  him  with  some  small  box,  and  they 
would  go  over  to  Bristol,  be  married,  and  then  go  on  to 
a  romantic  spot  he  knew  of  in  Wales,  and  there  spend  a 
week  of  bliss ! 

By  the  time  he  got  thus  far  in  his  meditations  he  felt 
intoxicated  again,  and  Mr.  Carlyon,  who  was  watching 
him  as  he  sat  there  in  his  chair  reading  the  Times  oppo- 
site him,  wondered  what  made  him  suddenly  clasp  his 

184 


HALCYOXE 

hands  and  draw  in  his  breath  and  smile  in  that  idiotic 
way  while  he  gazed  into  space ! 

Then  there  would  be  the  afterwards.  Of  course,  that 
would  be  blissful,  too.  Oh!  if  he  could  only  claim  her 
before  all  the  world  how  glorious  it  would  be  —  but  for 
the  present  that  was  hopeless,  and  at  all  events  her  life 
with  him  would  not  be  more  retired  than  the  one  of  mo- 
notony which  she  led  at  La  Sarthe  Chase,  and  would  have 
his  tenderest  love  to  brighten  it.  He  would  take  a  tiny 
house  for  her  somewhere  —  one  of  those  very  old-fash- 
ioned ones  shut  in  with  a  garden  still  left  in  Chelsea,  near 
the  Embankment  —  and  there  he  would  spend  every  mo- 
ment of  his  spare  time,  and  try  to  make  up  to  her  for 
her  isolation.  Well  arranged,  the  world  need  not  know 
of  this  —  Halcyone  would  never  be  exigeante  —  or  if  it 
did  develop  a  suspicion,  ministers  before  his  day  had 
been  known  to  have  had  —  clieres  amies. 

But  as  this  thought  came  he  jumped  from  his  chair. 
It  was,  when  faced  in  a  concrete  fashion,  hideously  un- 
palatable as  touching  his  pure,  fair  star. 

"  You  are  rather  restless  to-day,  John,"  the  Professor 
said,  as  his  old  pupil  went  hastily  towards  the  open  win- 
dow and  looked  out. 

"  Yes,"  said  John  Derringham.  "  It  is  going  to  rain, 
and  I  must  go  to  Bristol  this  afternoon.  I  have  to  see 
a  man  on  business." 

Cheiron's  left  penthouse  went  up  into  his  forehead. 

"  Matters  complicating?  "  was  all  he  said. 

"  Yes,  the  very  devil,"  responded  John  Derringham. 

"  Beginning  to  feel  the  noose  already,  poor  lad?  " 

185 


HALCYONE 

"  Er  —  no,  not  exactly,"  and  he  turned  round.  "  But 
I  don't  quite  know  what  I  ought  to  do  about  her  —  Mrs. 
Cricklander." 

"  A  question  of  honor?  " 

"  I  suppose  so." 

The  Professor  grunted,  and  then  chuckled. 

"  A  man's  honor  towards  a  woman  lasts  as  long  as 
his  love.  When  that  goes,  it  goes  with  it  —  to  the  other 
woman." 

M  You  cynic  !  "  said  John  Derringham. 

"  It  is  the  truth,  my  son.  A  man's  point  of  view  of 
such  things  shifts  with  his  inclinations,  and  if  other  peo- 
ple are  not  likely  to  know,  he  does  not  experience  any 
qualms  in  thinking  of  the  woman's  feelings  —  it  is  only 
of  what  the  world  will  think  of  him  if  it  finds  him  out. 
Complete  cowards,  all  of  us  !  " 

John  Derringham  frowned.  He  hated  to  know  this 
was  true. 

"  Well,  I  am  not  going  to  marry  Mrs.  Cricklander, 
Master,"  he  announced  after  a  while. 

"  I  am  very  glad  to  hear  it,"  Cheiron  said  heartily. 
"  I  never  like  to  see  a  fine  ship  going  upon  the  rocks. 
All  your  vitality  would  have  been  drawn  out  of  you  by 
those  octopus  arms." 

"  I  do  not  agree  with  you  in  the  least  about  any  of 
those  points,"  John  Derringham  said  stiffly.  "  I  have 
the  highest  respect  for  Mrs.  Cricklander  —  but  I  can't 
do  it." 

"  Well,  you  can  thank  whichever  of  your  stars  has 
brought  you  to  this  conclusion,"  growled  the  Professor. 

186 


HALCYONE 

"  I  suppose  I'll  pull  through  somehow  financially,"  the 
restless  visitor  went  on,  pacing  the  floor  — "  anyway,  for 
a  few  years ;  there  may  be  something  more  to  be  squeezed 
out  of  Derringham.     I  must  see." 

"  Well,  if  you  are  not  marrying  that  need  not  distress 
you,"  Cheiron  consoled  him  with.  "  Those  things  only 
matter  if  a  man  has  a  son." 

John  Derringham  stopped  abruptly  in  his  walk  and 
looked  at  his  old  master. 

His  words  gave  him  a  strange  twinge,  but  he  crushed 
it  down,  and  went  on  again : 

"  It  is  a  curse,  this  want  of  money,"  he  said.  "  It 
makes  a  man  do  base  things  that  his  soul  revolts 
against."  And  then,  in  his  restless  moving,  he  absently 
picked  up  a  volume  of  Aristotle,  and  his  eye  caught  this 
sentence :  "  The  courageous  man  therefore  faces  dan- 
ger and  performs  acts  of  courage  for  the  sake  of  what 
is  noble." 

And  what  did  an  honorable  man  do?  But  this  ques- 
tion he  would  not  go  further  into. 

"  You  were  out  very  late  last  night,  John,"  Mr.  Carl- 
yon  said  presently.  "  I  left  this  window  open  for  you 
on  purpose.  The  garden  does  one  good  sometimes. 
You  were  not  lonely,  I  hope?  " 

"  No,"  said  John  Derringham ;  but  he  would  not  look 
at  his  old  master,  for  he  knew  very  well  he  should  see  a 
whimsical  sparkle  in  his  eyes. 

Mr.  Carlyon,  of  course,  must  be  aware  of  Halcyone's 
night  wandering  proclivities.  And  if  there  had  been 
nothing  to  conceal  John  Derringham  would  have  liked 

187 


HALCYONE 

to  have  sat  down  now  and  rhapsodized  all  about  his 
darling  to  his  old  friend,  who  adored  her,  too,  and  knew 
and  appreciated  all  her  points.  He  felt  bitterly  that 
Fate  had  not  been  as  kind  to  him  as  she  might  have  been. 
However,  there  was  nothing  for  it,  so  he  turned  the 
conversation  and  tried  to  make  himself  grow  as  inter- 
ested in  a  question  of  foreign  policy  as  he  would  have 
been  able  to  be,  say,  a  year  ago.  And  then  he  went  out 
for  a  walk. 

And  Cheiron  sat  musing  in  his  chair,  as  was  his  habit. 

"  The  magnet  of  her  soul  is  drawing  his,"  he  said  to 
himself.  "  Well,  now  that  this  has  begun  to  work,  we 
must  leave  things  to  Fate." 

But  he  did  not  guess  how  passion  on  the  one  side  and 
complete  love  and  trust  upon  the  other  were  precipi- 
tously forcing  Fate's  hand. 

The  possibility  of  John  Derringham's  sending  a  mes- 
sage to  Halcyone  was  very  slender.  The  post  was  out 
of  the  question  —  she  probably  never  got  any  letters, 
and  the  arrival  of  one  in  a  man's  handwriting  would  no 
doubt  be  the  cause  of  endless  comment  in  the  household. 
The  foolishness  had  been  not  to  make  a  definite  appoint- 
ment with  her  when  they  had  parted  before  dawn.  But 
they  had  been  too  overcome  with  love  to  think  of  any- 
thing practical  in  those  last  moments,  and  now  the  only 
thing  would  be  for  him  to  go  again  to-night  to  the  tree, 
and  hope  that  she  would  meet  him  there.  But  the  sky 
was  clouding  over,  and  rain  looked  quite  ready  to  fall. 
As  a  last  resource  he  could  send  Demetrius  —  his  own 
valet  he  would  not  have  trusted  a  yard. 

188 


HAECYONE 

The  rain  kept  off  for  his  journey  to  Bristol,  and  his 
business  was  got  through  with  rapidity.  And  if  the 
registrar  did  connect  the  name  of  John  Derringham, 
barrister-at-law,  of  the  Temple,  London,  with  John  Der- 
ringham, the  Under-Secretary  of  State  for  Foreign  Af- 
fairs, he  was  a  man  of  discretion  and  said  nothing 
about  it. 

It  was  quite  late  when  Mr.  Carlyon's  guest  returned 
to  his  roof  —  cross-country  trains  were  so  tiresome  — 
and  it  had  just  begun  to  pour  with  rain,  so  there  was 
no  use  expecting  that  Haley  one  would  be  there  by  the 
tree.  And  bed,  with  a  rather  feverish  sensation  of 
disappointment,  seemed  John  Derringham's  portion. 

Halcyone  had  passed  a  day  of  happy  tranquillity. 
She  was  of  that  godlike  calm  which  frets  not,  believing 
always  that  only  good  could  come  to  her,  and  that,  as 
she  heard  nothing  from  her  lover,  it  was  because  — 
which  was  indeed  the  truth  —  he  was  arranging  for 
their  future.  If  it  had  been  fine  she  had  meant  to  go 
to  the  tree,  but  as  it  rained  she  went  quietly  to  her  room, 
and  let  her  Priscilla  brush  her  hair  for  an  hour,  while 
she  stared  in  the  old  dark  glass,  seeing  not  her  own 
pale  and  exquisite  face,  but  all  sorts  of  pictures  of  fu- 
ture happiness.  That  she  must  not  tell  her  old  nurse, 
for  the  moment,  of  her  good  fortune  was  her  one  crum- 
pled rose-leaf,  but  she  had  arranged  that  when  she  went 
she  would  post  a  letter  at  once  to  her,  and  Priscilla 
would,  of  course,  join  her  in  London,  or  wherever  it  was 
John  Derringham  would  decide  that  she  should  live. 
The  thought   of   leaving  her   aunts   did   not   so  much 

189 


HALCYONE 

trouble  her.  The  ancient  ladies  had  never  made  her 
their  companion  or  encouraged  her  to  have  a  single  in- 
terest in  common  with  them.  She  was  even  doubtful  if 
they  would  really  miss  her,  so  little  had  they  ever  taken 
her  into  their  lives.  For  them  she  was  still  the  child  to 
be  kept  in  her  place,  however  much  she  had  tried  to 
grow  a  little  nearer.  Then  her  thoughts  turned  back  to 
ways  and  means. 

She  so  often  spent  the  whole  day  with  Cheiron  that 
her  absence  would  not  be  remarked  upon  until  bedtime. 
But  then  she  suddenly  remembered,  with  a  feeling  of 
consternation,  that  the  Professor  intended  to  leave  on 
the  Tuesday  in  Whitsun  week  for  his  annual  fortnight 
in  London.  If  the  household  knew  of  this,  it  might 
complicate  matters,  and  was  a  pity.  However,  there 
was  no  use  speculating  about  any  of  these  things,  since 
she  did  not  yet  know  on  which  day  she  was  to  start  — 
to  start  for  Paradise  —  as  the  wife  of  her  Beloved ! 

Next  morning  it  was  fine  again,  and  she  decided  she 
would  go  towards  their  tree,  and  if  John  were  not  there, 
she  would  even  go  on  to  the  orchard  house,  because  she 
realized  fully  the  difficulty  he  would  find  in  sending  her 
a  message. 

But  he  was  there  waiting  for  her,  in  the  bright  sun- 
light, and  she  thought  him  the  perfection  of  what  a  man 
should  look  in  his  well-cut  gray  flannels. 

John  Derringham  knew  how  to  dress  himself,  and 
had  even  in  his  oldest  clothes  that  nameless,  indescribable 
distinction  which  seems  often  to  be  the  birthright  of 
Englishmen  of  his  class. 

190 


HALCYONE 

The  daylight  made  her  timid  again ;  she  was  no  more 
the  imperious  goddess  of  the  night.  It  was  a  shy  and 
tender  little  maiden  who  nestled  into  the  protecting 
strong  arms  of  her  lover. 

He  told  her  all  his  plans :  how  he  had  given  notice  for 
the  license,  and  that  it  would  be  forthcoming.  And  he 
explained  that  he  had  chosen  Bristol  rather  than  Up- 
minster  because  in  this  latter  place  everyone  would  know 
the  name  of  La  Sarthe  —  even  the  registrar's  clerk  and 
whoever  else  they  would  secure  as  a  witness  —  but  in 
Bristol  it  might  pass  unnoticed. 

They  discussed  what  should  be  done  about  Cheiron 
and  the  old  ladies,  and  decided  that  when  to  apprise 
the  former  of  their  marriage  must  be  left  to  John's 
discretion;  and  as  Haley  one  would  not  be  missed  until 
the  evening,  they  would  simply  send  two  telegrams  from 
Bristol  in  the  late  afternoon,  one  to  Miss  La  Sarthe  and 
one  to  Priscilla,  the  former  briefly  to  announce  that 
Halcyone  was  quite  safe  and  was  writing,  and  the  lat- 
ter asking  her  old  nurse  not  to  let  the  old  ladies  feel 
worried,  and  promising  a  letter  to  her,  also. 

"  Then,"  John  Derringham  said,  "  you  will  be  my 
wife  by  that  time,  sweetheart,  and  you  will  tell  your 
aunts  the  truth,  ask  them  to  keep  our  secret,  and  say 
that  you  will  return  to  them  often,  so  that  they  shall 
not  be  lonely.  We  will  write  it  between  us,  darling,  and 
I  do  not  think  they  will  give  us  away." 

"  Never,"  returned  Halcyone,  while  she  looked  rather 
wistfully  towards  the  house.     "  They  are  too  proud." 

He  dropped  her  hand  for  an  instant ;  the  unconscious 

191 


HALCYONE 

inference  of  this  speech  made  him  wince.  She  under- 
stood, then,  that  she  was  going  to  do  something  which 
her  old  kinswomen  would  think  was  a  hurt  to  their  pride, 
and  so  would  be  silent  over  it  in  consequence.  And  yet 
she  did  not  hesitate.  She  must  indeed  love  him  very 
much. 

A  tremendous  wave  of  emotion  surged  through  him, 
and  he  looked  at  her  with  reverence  and  worship.  And 
for  one  second  his  own  part  of  utter  selfishness  flashed 
into  his  understanding,  so  that  he  asked,  with  almost  an 
anxious  note  in  his  deep,  assured  voice : 

"  You  are  not  afraid,  sweetheart,  to  come  away  — 
for  all  the  rest  of  vour  life  —  alone  with  me?  " 

And  often  in  the  after  days  of  anguish  there  would 
come  back  to  him  the  memory  of  her  eyes,  to  tear  his 
heart  with  agony  in  the  night-watches  —  her  pure,  true 
eyes,  with  all  her  fresh,  untarnished  soul  looking  out 
of  them  into  his  as  they  glistened  with  love  and  faith. 

"Afraid?"  she  said.  "How  should  I  be  afraid  — 
since  you  are  my  lord  and  I  am  your  love?  Do  we  not 
belong  to  one  another?  " 

"  Oh,  my  dear,"  he  said,  as  he  folded  her  to  his  heart 
in  wild,  worshiping  passion,  "  God  keep  you  always  safe, 
here  in  my  arms." 

And  if  she  had  known  it,  for  the  first  time  in  his  life 
there  were  tears  in  John  Derringham's  proud  eyes. 
For  he  knew  now  he  had  found  her  —  the  one  woman 
with  a  soul. 

Then  they  parted,  when  every  smallest  detail  was  set- 
tled, for  she  had  promised  to  help  Miss  Roberta  with  a 

192 


HALCYONE 

new  design  for  her  embroidery,  and  he  had  promised  to 
join  Mrs.  Cricklander's  party  for  an  early  lunch.  They 
intended  to  make  an  excursion  to  see  the  ruins  of  Grase- 
worth  Tower  in  the  afternoon. 

"  And  indeed  we  can  bear  the  separation  now,  my 
darling,"  he  said,  "  because  we  shall  both  know  that  we 
must  go  through  only  four  more  days  before  we  are  to- 
gether —  for  always !  " 

But  even  so  it  seemed  as  if  they  could  not  tear  them- 
selves apart,  and  when  he  did  let  her  go  he  strode  after 
her  again  and  pleaded  for  one  more  kiss. 

"  There ! "  she  whispered,  smiling  while  her  eyes  half 
filled  with  mist.  "  This  tree  is  forever  sacred  to  us. 
John,  it  is  listening  now  when  I  tell  you  once  more  that 
I  love  you." 

And  then  she  fled. 


CHAPTER  XX 

Vy^^EN  once  John  Derringham  had  definitely  made 
W  p  up  his  mind  to  any  course  in  life,  he  continued 
V^x  in  it  with  decision  and  skill,  and  carried  off  the 
situation  with  a  high-handed  assurance.  Thus  he  felt 
no  qualms  of  awkwardness  in  meeting  Mrs.  Cricklander 
and  treating  her  with  an  enchanting  ease  and  friendli- 
ness which  was  completely  disconcerting.  She  had  no 
casus  belli;  she  could  not  find  fault  with  his  manner  or 
his  words,  and  yet  she  was  left  with  the  blank  conviction 
that  her  hopes  in  regard  to  him  were  over.  She  despised 
men  in  her  heart  because,  as  a  rule,  she  was  able  to 
calculate  with  certainty  ever}7  move  in  her  games  with 
them.  Feeling  no  slightest  passion,  her  very  mediocre 
intellect  proved  often  more  than  a  match  for  the  clever- 
est. But  her  supreme  belief  in  herself  now  received  a 
heavy  blow.  She  was  never  so  near  to  loving  John  Der- 
ringham  as  during  this  Whitsuntide  when  she  felt  she 
had  lost  him.      Cora  Lutworth  once  said  of  her: 

"  Cis  is  one  of  the  happiest  women  in  the  world,  be- 
cause when  she  looks  in  the  glass  in  the  morning  she 
never  sees  anything  but  herself,  and  is  perfectly  con- 
tent. Most  of  us  find  shadows  peeping  over  our  shoul- 
ders of  what  we  would  like  to  be." 

Arabella  found  her  employer  extremely  trying  during 

194 


HALCYONE 

the  Saturday  and  Sunday,  and  was  almost  in  tears  when 
she  wrote  to  her  mother. 

Mr.  Derringham  has  plainly  determined  not  to 
be  ensnared  yet.  If  this  did  not  render  M.  E. 
so  difficult  to  please,  the  situation  would  be  very 
instructive  to  watch.  And  I  am  not  even  now  cer- 
tain whether  he  will  escape  eventually,  because  her 
whole  pride  in  herself  is  roused  and  she  will  stick 
at  nothing.  I  have  a  shrewd  suspicion  as  to  what 
has  caused  the  change  in  his  feelings  and  intentions 
towards  M.  E.,  but  I  have  not  imparted  my  ideas 
to  her,  since  doing  so  might  do  no  good,  and  would 
in  some  way  certainly  injure  an  innocent  person. 
As  yet  I  believe  she  is  unaware  of  this  person's  ex- 
istence. We  have  done  everything  we  can  for  Mr. 
Derringham  witli  the  most  erudite  conversation.  I 
have  been  up  half  of  the  night  ascertaining  facts 
upon  all  sorts  of  classical  subjects,  as  that  seems 
to  be  more  than  ever  the  bent  of  his  mind  in  these 
last  two  visits.  (I  am  given  to  understand  from 
other  sources  that  the  person  of  whom  I  made 
mention  above  is  a  highly-trained  Greek  scholar 
and  of  exceptional  refinement  and  cultivation,  so 
that  may  be  the  reason.)  The  strain  of  preparing 
M.  E.  for  these  talks  and  then  my  anxiety  when, 
at  meals  or  after  them,  I  hear  her  upon  the  brink 
of  some  fatal  mistake,  has  caused  me  to  have  most 
unpleasant  headaches,  and  really,  if  it  were  not  so 
modern  and  silly  a  phrase,  I  should  say  the  thing 
was  getting  on  my  nerves.  However,  all  the  inter- 
esting guests  are  leaving  on  Tuesday  afternoon. 
Mr.  Derringham,  I  understand  from  what  he  said 

195 


H  A  L  C  Y  O  N  E 

to  me,  intends  to  go  over  to  his  old  master,  Pro- 
fessor Carlyon's,  and  catch  a  later  train  from  there, 
but  M.  E.  does  not  know  this,  and  I  have  not  felt  it 
my  duty  to  inform  her  of  it,  because  it  might  in- 
volve some  awkwardness  connected  with  the  person 
about  whom  I  have  already  given  you  a  hint.  I 
must  close  now,  as  I  have  some  facts  to  look  up 
concerning  the  worship  of  Dionysus  which  M.  E. 
is  going  to  bring  in  to-night.  It  was  only  yester- 
day I  told  her  who  he  was,  and  I  had  the  greatest 
difficulty  to  get  her  to  understand  he  was  Bacchus 
as  well,  as  she  had  learned  of  him  when  younger 
under  that  name  as  the  God  of  Drunkards,  and  did 
not  consider  him  a  very  nice  person  to  mention. 
But  Mr.  Derringham  held  forth  upon  the  rude 
Thracian  Dionysus  last  night  and  the  fundamental 
spirituality  of  his  original  cult,  and  so  she  felt  it 
might  seem  rather  bourgeois  to  be  shocked,  and  has 
committed  to  memory  as  well  as  she  can  some  facts 
to-day. 

It  will  be  seen  from  Miss  Clinker's  frank  letter  to  her 
parent  that  Mrs.  Cricklander  was  leaving  no  stone  un- 
turned to  gain  her  object,  and  such  praiseworthy  toil 
deserves  the  highest  commendation. 

John  Derringham,  meanwhile,  having  successfully 
smoothed  matters  to  his  own  satisfaction,  felt  at  liberty 
to  dream  in  his  spare  moments  of  his  love.  He  already 
began  to  wonder  how  he  had  ever  felt  any  emotion 
towards  the  fair  Cecilia  —  she  was  perfectly  charming, 
but  left  him  as  cold  as  ice! 

And  so  at  last  the  good-bys  were  said,  and  he  got  into 

196 


HALCYON E 

the  motor  with  some  of  the  other  guests,  ostensibly  for 
the  station,  but  in  reality  to  get  out  at  the  Lodge  gates 
upon  the  pretense  of  going  to  see  the  Professor.  He 
intended,  instead  of  this,  to  cross  the  haw-haw  and 
reconnoiter  upon  the  hope  of  meeting  his  beloved,  be- 
cause there  was  no  necessity  for  him  to  spend  a  dull 
afternoon  in  Upminster  when  perhaps  some  more  agree- 
able hours  could  be  snatched  under  the  tree.  He  had 
attended  to  every  point,  he  believed,  even  having  written 
a  letter  to  Cheiron  winch  he  had  taken  the  precaution 
to  give  to  his  servant  to  post  from  London  on  the  fol- 
lowing morning,  so  that  there  would  be  no  Bristol  mark 
as  a  clew  to  their  whereabouts.  In  this  he  merely  stated 
that  when  his  old  master  would  receive  it  Halcyone 
would  be  his  wife,  and  that  for  a  time  they  had  decided 
to  keep  the  marriage  secret,  and  he  hoped  his  old  mas- 
ter would  understand  and  sympathize. 

The  only  qualm  of  any  sort  he  experienced  during 
these  three  days  was  when  he  was  composing  this  letter, 
so  he  finished  it  quickly  and  did  not  even  read  it  over. 
And  now,  as  he  strode  across  the  Wendover  park,  it 
was  safe  in  his  servant's  pocket  and  would  be  despatched 
duly  next  day.  He  was  unaware  of  the  fact  that  Mr. 
Carlyon  had  left  for  London  by  a  morning  train. 

As  he  came  within  view  of  the  haw-haw,  he  saw  in  the 
far  distance  Halcyone  just  flitting  towards  the  beech 
avenue  gate,  and  in  his  intense  haste  to  catch  her  up 
before  she  should  get  too  near  the  house,  he  removed 
the  bricks  very  carelessly,  not  even  remarking  that  one, 
and  the  most  important,  was  disposed  of  in  such  a  man- 

197 


HALCYONE 

ner   that   the    spike   left   beneath   would   not   bear   his 
weight. 

He  had  got  thus  far,  his  eyes  fixed  upon  the  slender 
white  figure  rapidly  disappearing  from  his  view,  when 
with  a  tremendous  crash  his  foothold  gave  way  and  he 
fell  with  fearful  force  into  the  ditch  beneath,  his  head 
striking  one  of  the  fallen  bricks.  And  after  that,  all 
things  were  blank  and  his  soul  wandered  into  shadow- 
land  and  tasted  of  the  pains  of  death. 

•  ••••*•• 

From  the  first  break  of  day  on  that  Tuesday  when 
Halcyone  awoke  she  was  conscious  that  some  sorrow 
was  near  her.  Every  sense  of  hers,  every  instinct,  so 
highly  trained  by  her  years  of  communion  with  Nature 
seemed  always  to  warn  her  of  coming  events. 

She  was  restless  —  a  state  of  being  quite  at  variance 
with  her  usual  calm.  The  air  was  sultry  and,  though 
no  rain  fell,  ominous  clouds  gathered  and  faint  thunder 
pealed  afar  off. 

"  What  is  it?  What  is  it,  God?  "  she  asked  of  the 
sky.  But  no  answer  came,  and  at  last  she  went  out  into 
the  park  and  towards  the  tree.  She  had  made  all  her 
simple  preparations  —  everything  that  she  must  take 
had  been  put  into  a  small  bag  and  was  safely  waiting 
in  the  secret  passage,  ready  for  her  to  fetch  on  the 
morrow. 

Cheiron,  she  knew,  had  gone  to  London.  Had  they 
not  said  good-by  on  the  evening  before?  And  his  last 
words  had  made  her  smile  happily  at  the  time. 

"  Things  are  changing,  Halcyone,"  he  had  said,  with 

198 


HALCYONE 

the  whimsical  raising  of  his  left  penthouse  brow.  "  Per- 
haps you  will  not  want  to  learn  Greek  much  longer  with 
your  crabbed  old  Cheiron  in  his  cave." 

And  she  had  flung  her  arms  round  his  neck  and  buried 
her  face  in  his  silver  beard,  and  assured  him  she  would 
always  want  to  learn  —  all  her  life.  But  now  she  felt  a 
twinge  of  sadness  —  she  would  indeed  miss  him,  her  dear 
old  master,  and  he,  too,  would  be  lonely  without  her. 
Then  she  fought  with  herself.  Feelings  of  depression 
were  never  permitted  to  stay  for  a  moment,  and  she 
looked  away  into  the  trees  for  comfort  —  but  only  a 
deathly  stillness  and  a  sullen  roll  of  distant  thunder  an- 
swered, and  left  her  uncomforted. 

And  then  some  force  stronger  than  her  will  seemed 
to  drive  her  back  to  the  house,  and  to  the  long  gallery, 
and  just  at  the  very  moment  when  she  had  passed  beyond 
her  lover's  sight  it  was  as  if  something  chased  her,  so 
that  she  ran  the  last  few  yards,  and  paused  not  until 
she  stood  in  front  of  Aphrodite's  shrine. 

It  would  be  difficult  to  carry  the  marble  head  with 
the  other  few  things  she  proposed  to  take,  but  none  the 
less  was  the  necessity  imperative.  She  could  not  be 
married  without  the  presence  of  her  beloved  mother  to 
bless  her. 

As  she  lifted  her  goddess  out,  with  her  silken  wrap- 
pings, the  first  flash  of  the  nearing  storm  lit  up  the  dark 
room  with  lurid  flame. 

Halcyone  shivered.     It  was  the  one  aspect  of  Nature 
with  which  she  was  out  of  harmony.     When  thunder 
rolled  and  lightning  quivered,  her  vitality  seemed  to  de- 
14  199 


HALCYONE 

sert  her  and  she  experienced  what  in  her  came  nearest 
to  fear. 

"  All !  someone  has  angered  God  greatly,"  she  whis- 
pered aloud ;  and  then  she  carried  the  head  to  the  secret 
door,  knowing  full  well  she  would  be  unwatched  in  her 
entry  there  —  on  such  a  day,  with  thunder  pealing,  not 
a  servant  would  have  ventured  into  the  long  gallery. 

Another  and  louder  rumble  reached  her  with  muffled 
sound,  as  she  made  her  way  in  the  dark  underground, 
and  as  she  came  to  the  place  where  there  was  the  con- 
trived gleam  of  light  and  outer  air,  the  lightning  turned 
the  narrow  space  into  a  green  dusk. 

Halcyone  was  trembling  all  over,  and  when  she  had 
put  her  precious  bundle  safely  into  the  bag  with  the 
rest  of  her  simple  preparations,  she  laid  it  on  the  iron- 
bound  box  which  had  never  been  stirred,  all  ready  for 
her  to  lift  up  and  take  with  her  in  the  morning.  Then 
she  ran  back,  cold  and  pale,  and  hastily  sought  Priscilla 
in  her  own  room,  and  talked  long  to  her  of  old  days,  glad 
indeed  to  hear  a  human  voice,  until  presently  the  rain 
began  to  pour  in  torrents  and  the  storm  cried  itself 
out. 

But  with  each  crash  before  this  came  her  heart  gave 
a  bound,  as  if  in  pain.  And  a  wild  longing  grew  in  her 
for  the  morrow  and  safety  in  her  lover's  arms. 

And  he  —  alas  !  that  hapless  lover !  —  was  lying  there 
in  the  haw-haw,  with  broken  ankle  and  damaged  head, 
half  recovering  consciousness  in  the  pouring  rain,  but 
unable  to  stir  or  climb  from  his  low  bed,  or  even  to 
cry  aloud  enough  to  make  anyone  hear  him.     And  so 

200 


HALCYONE 

at  last  the  night  came,  and  the  pure  moonlight,  and  when 
her  usual  evening  duties  were  over  with  her  aunts,  Hal- 
cyone  was  free  to  go  to  bed. 

She  opened  her  window  wide,  but  she  did  not  seek 
to  wander  in  the  wet  park.  John  would  not  be  there, 
and  she  must  rest,  so  as  to  be  fair  for  him  when  to- 
morrow they  should  start  on  life's  sweet  journey  —  to- 
gether. 

But  her  heart  was  not  quiet.     All  her  prayers  and 

pure  thoughts  seemed  to  bring  no  peace,  and  even  when, 

after  a  while,  she  fell  into  a  sleep,  it  was  still  troubled. 

And  thus  the  day  dawned  that  was  to  have  seen  her 

wedding! 

She  told  herself  that  the  dull,  sullen  oppression  she 
awoke  with  was  the  result  of  the  storm  in  the  night, 
and  with  firm  determination  she  banished  all  she  could 
of  heaviness,  and  got  through  her  usual  avocations  until 
the  moment  came  for  her  to  start  for  the  oak  avenue 
gate.  She  timed  her  arrival  to  be  exactly  at  ten  o'clock 
so  that  she  need  not  wait,  as  this  of  the  three  outlets 
was  the  one  where  there  might  be  a  less  remote  chance 
of  a  passer-by.  They  had  had  to  choose  it  because  it 
was  on  the  road  to  Bristol. 

The  sun  was  shining  gorgeously  again  when  she 
emerged  from  the  secret  door,  carrying  her  heavy  bun- 
dle, and  except  in  the  renewed  freshness  of  all  the  green 
there  seemed  no  trace  of  the  storm.  Yes  ■ —  as  she  got 
near  the  gate  she  saw  that  one  huge  tree  beyond  that 
old  friend  who  had  played  the  part  of  the  holder  of 
the  Golden  Fleece  was  stricken  and  cleft  through  by 

201 


HALCYONE 

the  lightning.  It  had  fallen  in  helpless  fashion,  black- 
ened and  yawning,  its  proud  head  in  the  dust. 

This  grieved  her  deeply,  and  she  paused  to  pass  a 
tender  hand  over  the  gaping  wound.  Then  she  went 
on  to  the  gate,  and  there  waited  —  waited  first  in 
calm  belief,  then  in  expectancy,  and  at  last  in  a  numb 
agony. 

The  sun  seemed  to  scorch  her,  the  light  hurt  her 
eyes,  every  sound  made  her  tremble  and  start  forward, 
and  at  last  she  cried  aloud: 

"  O  God,  why  do  I  feel  so  troubled?  I  who  have  al- 
ways had  peace  in  my  heart !  " 

But  no  bird  even  answered  her.  There  was  a  warm 
stillness,  and  just  there,  under  these  trees,  there  were  no 
rabbits  which  could  have  comforted  her  with  their  living 
forms  scuttling  to  and  fro. 

She  tried  to  reason  calmly.  Motors  were  uncertain 
things  —  this  one  might  have  broken  down,  and  that  had 
delayed  her  lover.  She  must  not  stir,  in  case  he  should 
come  and  think  his  lateness  had  frightened  her  and  that 
she  had  gone  back  to  the  house.  Whatever  befell,  she 
must  be  brave  and  true. 

But  at  last,  when  the  afternoon  shadows  were  length- 
ening, the  agony  became  intense.  Only  the  baker  had 
passed  with  his  cart,  and  a  farm  wagon  or  two,  during 
the  whole  day.  Gradually  the  conviction  grew  that  it 
could  not  only  be  an  accident  to  the  motor  —  if  so,  John 
would  have  procured  some  other  vehicle,  or,  indeed,  he 
could  have  come  to  her  on  foot  by  now.  Something 
had  befallen  him.      There  must  have  occurred  some  ac- 

202 


HALCYONE 

cident  to  himself ;  and  in  spite  of  all  her  calm  fortitude, 
anguish  clutched  her  soul. 

She  knew  not  what  to  do  or  which  way  to  go.  At 
last,  as  the  sun  began  to  sink,  faint  and  weary,  she 
decided  the  orchard  house  would  be  the  best  place. 
There,  if  there  was  any  news  of  an  accident,  Sarah 
Porrit,  the  Professor's  one  female  servant,  would  have 
heard  it. 

She  started  straight  across  the  park,  carrying  her 
heavy  bag,  and  crossed  the  beech  avenue,  and  so  on 
to  the  trysting  tree.  A  cold  feeling  like  some  extra 
disquietude  seemed  to  overcome  her  as  she  neared  the 
haw-haw  and  the  copse.  It  was  as  if  she  feared  and 
yet  longed  to  get  there.  But  she  resisted  the  tempta- 
tion, and  went  straight  on  to  the  little  gate  and  so  up 
the  garden  to  the  house. 

Mrs.  Porrit  received  her  with  her  usual  kindly  greet- 
ing. All  was  calm  and  peaceful,  and  while  Halcyone 
controlled  herself  to  talk  in  an  ordinary  voice,  the  post- 
man's knock  was  heard.  He  passed  the  Professor's  door 
on  the  road  to  Applewood  and  left  the  evening  mail, 
when  there  chanced  to  be  any. 

Mrs.  Porrit  received  the  letters  —  three  of  them  — 
and  then  she  adjusted  her  spectacles,  but  took  them 
off  again. 

"  After  all,  since  you  are  here,  miss,  perhaps  as  you 
write  better  than  I  you  will  be  so  good  as  to  redirect 
them  on  to  the  master.  You  know  his  address,  as 
usual."  And  she  named  an  old-fashioned  hotel  in 
Jermyn  Street. 

203 


HALCYONE 

Halcyone  took  them  in  her  cold,  trembling  fingers, 
and  then  nearly  dropped  them  on  the  floor,  for  the  top 
envelope  was  addressed  in  the  handwriting  of  her  be- 
loved !  She  knew  it  well.  Had  she  not,  during  the  past 
years,  often  seen  such  missives,  from  which  the  Pro- 
fessor had  read  her  scraps  of  news? 

She  carried  it  to  the  light  and  scrutinized  the  post- 
mark. It  was  "  London,"  and  posted  that  very  morning 
early ! 

For  a  moment  all  was  a  blank,  and  she  found  herself 
grasping  the  back  of  Cheiron's  big  chair  to  prevent  her- 
self from  falling. 

John  had  been  in  London  at  the  moment  when  she  was 
waiting  by  the  tree!     What  mystery  was  here? 

At  first  the  feeling  was  one  of  passionate  relief. 
There  had  been  no  accident,  then;  he  had  been  obliged 
to  go  —  there  would  be  some  explanation  forthcoming. 
Perhaps  he  had  even  written  to  her,  too  —  and  she  gave 
a  bound  forward,  as  though  to  run  back  to  La  Sarthe 
Chase.  But  then  she  recollected  the  evening  postman 
did  not  come  to  the  house,  and  they  got  no  letters  as 
Cheiron  did,  who  was  on  the  road.  Hers  could  not  be 
there  until  the  morning  —  she  must  wait  patiently  and 
see. 

With  consummate  self-control  she  made  her  voice 
sound  natural  as  she  said,  "  Oh,  I  am  so  late,  Mrs. 
Porrit.  I  must  go,"  and,  bidding  the  woman  a  gra- 
cious good  evening,  walked  rapidly  to  the  house.  A 
telegram  might  have  come  for  her,  and  she  had  been 
out  all  day.     What  if  her  aunts  had  opened  it ! 

204 


HALCYONE 

This  thought  made  her  quicken  her  pace  so  that  at 
last  she  arrived  at  the  terrace  breathless  with  running; 
and  having  deposited  her  bag  in  safety,  she  came  out 
again  from  the  secret  passage  and  got  hastily  to  the 
house. 

But  there  was  no  sign  of  a  telegram  in  the  hall,  and 
she  mounted  to  find  Priscilla  in  her  room,  which  she  dis- 
covered to  be  in  great  disorder,  her  few  clothes  lying 
about  on  every  available  space. 

"  Oh,  my  lamb,  where  have  you  been  ?  "  the  elderly 
woman  exclaimed.  "  At  four  o'clock  who  should  come 
in  a  fly  from  the  Applewood  station  but  your  step- 
father's wife !  She  was  staying  at  Upminster,  and  says 
she  thought  she  would  come  over  and  see  you  ■ —  and 
now  it's  settled  that  we  go  back  with  her  to  London  to- 
morrow. Think  of  it,  my  lamb!  You  and  me  to  see 
the  world !  "  Then  she  cried  in  fear :  "  My  precious, 
what  is  it  ?  " 

For  Halcyone,  overwrought  and  overcome,  had  stag- 
gered to  a  chair  and,  falling  into  it,  had  buried  her  face 
in  her  hands. 


CHAPTER  XXI 

'RS.  JAMES  ANDERTON  was  seated  in  the 
Italian  parlor  with  the  two  ancient  hostesses 
when  Halcyone  at  last  came  into  their  midst. 
They  had  evidently  exhausted  all  possible  topics  of 
conversation  and  were  extremely  glad  of  an  interrup- 
tion. 

Miss  La  Sarthe  had  been  growing  more  and  more 
annoyed  at  her  great-niece's  lengthy  absence,  while  Miss 
Roberta  felt  so  nervous  she  would  like  to  have  sniffed 
at  her  vinaigrette,  but,  alas !  the  stern  eye  of  her  sister 
was  upon  her  and  she  dared  not. 

Mrs.  James  Anderton  —  good,  worthy  woman  —  had 
not  passed  an  agreeable  afternoon  either.  She  felt  her- 
self hopelessly  out  of  tune  with  the  two  old  ladies,  whose 
exquisitely  reserved  polished  manners  disconcerted  her. 

She  had  been  made  to  feel  —  most  delicately,  it  is 
true,  but  still  unmistakably  —  that  she  had  committed 
a  breach  of  taste  in  thus  descending  upon  La  Sarthe 
Chase  unannounced.  And  instead  of  the  sensation  of 
complacent  importance  which  she  usually  enjoyed  when 
among  her  own  friends  and  acquaintances,  she  was  ex- 
periencing a  depressed  sense  of  being  a  very  small  per- 
sonage indeed. 

Her   highly   colored   comely   face   was   very  hot   and 

206 


HALCYONE 

flushed  and  she  rather  restlessly  played  with  her  para- 
sol handle.  Miss  La  Sarthe's  voice  grew  a  little  acid  as 
she  said: 

"  This  is  our  great-niece,  Halcyone  La  Sarthe,  Mrs. 
Anderton  " —  and  then  — "  It  is  unfortunate  that  you 
should  have  been  so  long  absent,  child." 

"  I  am  very  sorry,"  Halcyone  returned  gently,  and 
she  shook  hands.      She  made  no  excuse  or  explanation. 

Mrs.  Anderton  plunged  into  important  matters  at 
once. 

"  Your  father,  Mr.  Anderton " —  how  that  word 
"  father  "  jarred  upon  Haley  one's  sensitive  ears !  — 
"  wished  me  to  come  and  see  you,  dear,  and  hopes  you 
will  return  with  me  to-morrow  to  London,  for  a  little  visit 
to  us,  that  you  may  make  the  acquaintance  of  your 
brother  and  sisters." 

Halcyone  had  already  made  up  her  mind  what  to 
do,  before  she  had  left  her  room.  She  would  agree  to 
anything  they  suggested  in  order  to  have  no  obstacles 
put  in  her  way  —  not  admitting  for  a  moment  that  these 
people  had  any  authority  over  her.  Then,  if  in  the 
morning  she  received  a  letter  from  her  Beloved,  she 
would  follow  its  instructions  implicitly.  Always  having 
at  hand  her  certain  mode  of  disappearance,  she  could 
slip  away,  and  if  it  seemed  necessary,  just  leave  them 
to  think  what  they  pleased.  Priscilla  would  be  warned 
to  allay  at  once  the  anxiety  of  her  aunts,  and  for  the 
Andertons  she  was  far  too  desperate  to  care  what  they 
might  feel. 

"  Thank  you ;  it  is  very  good  of  you,"  she  said  as 

207 


HALCYONE 

graciously  as  she  could.  "  My  old  nurse  has  told  me 
of  your  kind  invitation,  and  is  already  beginning  the 
preparations.  I  trust  you  left  Mr.  Anderton  and  my 
stepbrother  and  sisters  well?  " 

"  Ho^-toity !  "  thought  Louisa  Anderton.  "  Of  the 
same  sort  as  the  old  spinsters.  This  won't  please 
James,  I  fear !  "  But  aloud  she  answered  that  the  fam- 
ily were  all  well,  and  that  James  Albert,  who  was  thir- 
teen now,  would  soon  be  going  to  Eton. 

Over  Halcyone,  in  spite  of  her  numbness  and  the  ten- 
sion she  was  feeling,  though  controlled  by  her  firm  will, 
there  came  the  memory  of  the  red,  crying  baby,  for 
whose  life  her  own  sweet  mother  had  paid  so  dear  a  price. 
And  Mabel  and  Ethel  —  noisy,  merry  little  girls !  — 
she  had  thought  of  them  so  seldom  in  these  latter  years 
—  they  seemed  as  far-off  shadows  now.  But  James  An- 
derton and  her  mother  stood  out  sharp  and  clear. 

The  strain  and  anguish  of  the  day  had  left  her  very 
pale.  Mrs.  Anderton  thought  her  plain  and  most  un- 
comfortably aloof;  she  really  regretted  that  she  had 
put  into  her  husband's  head  the  idea  of  giving  this  invi- 
tation. He  would  gladly  have  left  Halcyone  alone,  but 
for  her  kindly  thought.  Mabel  was  just  seventeen,  and 
such  a  handful  that  her  father  had  decided  she  should 
stay  in  the  schoolroom  with  her  sister  for  another  year, 
and  Mrs.  Anderton  had  felt  it  would  be  a  good  oppor- 
tunity for  Halcyone  to  rejoin  the  family  circle  at  a 
time  when  her  presence,  if  she  proved  good-looking, 
could  not  in  any  way  interfere  with  her  stepsister's 
debut. 

208 


HALCYONE 

And  here,  instead  of  being  overcome  with  gratitude 
and  excitement,  this  cold,  quiet  girl  was  taking  it  all 
as  quite  an  ordinary  circumstance.  No  wonder  she, 
Louisa  Anderton,  felt  aggrieved. 

They  had  hardly  time  for  any  more  words,  for  Mrs. 
Anderton  had  already  put  off  her  departure  by  the 
seven-twenty  train  from  Applewood  to  Upminster  on 
purpose  to  wait  for  Haley  one,  and  now  proposed  to 
catch  the  one  at  nine  o'clock  —  her  fly  still  waited 
in  the  courtyard  —  and  they  made  rapid  arrange- 
ments. Halcyone,  accompanied  by  Priscilla,  was 
to  meet  her  the  next  day  at  the  Upminster  junction 
at  eleven  o'clock,  and  they  would  journey  to  London 
together. 

And  all  the  while  Halcyone  was  agreeing  to  this  she 
was  thinking,  if  in  the  improbable  circumstance  that 
she  should  get  no  letter  in  the  morning,  it  would  be 
wiser  to  go  to  London.  There  was  her  Cheiron,  who 
would  help  her  to  get  news.  But  of  course  she  would 
hear,  and  all  would  be  well. 

Thus  she  was  enabled  to  unfreeze  a  little  to  her  step- 
father's wife,  who,  as  they  said  good-by  at  the  creaking 
fly's  door,  felt  some  of  her  soft  charm. 

"  Perhaps  she  is  shy,"  she  said  to  herself  as  she 
rolled  towards  the  station.  "  Anyway,  it  is  restful, 
after  Mabel's  laying  down  the  law." 

That  night  Halcyone  took  her  goddess  to  the  little 
summer  house  upon  the  second  terrace. 

"  If  I  start  with  John  to-morrow,  my  sweet,"  she 
said,  "  you  will  come  with  me  as  I  have  promised  you. 

209 


HALCYONE 

But  if  I  must  go  to  that  great,  restless  city,  to  find  him, 
then  you  will  wait  for  me  here  —  safe  in  your  secret 
home."  And  then  she  looked  out  over  the  misty  clover- 
grown  pleasance  to  the  country  beyond  bathed  in  bril- 
liant moonlight.  And  something  in  the  beauty  of  it 
stilled  the  wild  ache  in  her  heart.  She  would  not  admit 
into  her  thoughts  the  least  fear,  but  some  unexplained, 
unconquerable  apprehension  stayed  in  her  innermost 
soul.  She  knew,  only  she  refused  to  face  the  fact,  that 
all  was  not  well. 

Of  doubt  as  to  John  Derringham's  intentions  towards 
her,  or  his  love,  she  had  none,  but  there  were  forces  she 
knew  which  were  strong  and  could  injure  people,  and 
with  all  her  fearlessness  of  them,  they  might  have  been 
capable  of  causing  some  trouble  to  her  lover  —  her  lover 
who  was  ignorant  of  such  things. 

She  stayed  some  time  looking  at  the  beautiful  moonlit 
country,  and  saying  her  prayers  to  that  God  Who  was 
her  eternal  friend,  and  then  she  got  up  to  steal  noise- 
lessly to  bed. 

But  as  she  was  opening  the  secret  door,  to  have  one 
more  look  at  the  sky,  after  she  had  replaced  Aphrodite 
in  the  bag,  it  seemed  as  though  her  lover's  voice  called 
her  in  anguish  through  the  night :  "  Halcyone !  "  and 
again,  "  Halcyone !     My  love !  " 

She  stopped,  petrified  with  emotion,  and  then  rushed 
back  onto  the  terrace.  But  all  was  silence;  and,  wild 
with  some  mad  fear,  she  set  off  hurriedly,  never  stopping 
until  she  came  to  their  trysting  tree.  But  here  there  was 
silence   also,   only   the   nightingale   throbbed   from  the 

210 


HALCYONE 

copse,  while  the  faint  rustle  of  soft  zephyrs  disturbed 
the  leaves. 

And  Jeb  Hart  and  his  comrade  saw  the  tall  white 
figure  from  their  hiding-place  in  the  low  overgrown 
brushwood,  and  Gubbs  crossed  himself  again,  for 
whether  she  were  living  or  some  wraith  they  were  never 
really  sure. 

At  the  moment  when  Halcyone  opened  the  secret  door, 
John  Derringham  was  just  recovering  consciousness  in 
a  luxurious  bed  at  Wendover  Park,  whither  he  had  been 
carried  when  accidentally  found  by  the  keepers  in  their 
rounds  about  eight  o'clock.  It  was  several  days  since 
they  had  visited  this  part  of  the  park,  and  they  had 
lit  upon  him  by  a  fortunate  chance.  He  had  lain  there 
in  the  haw-haw,  unconscious  all  that  day,  while  his  poor 
little  lady-love  waited  for  him  at  the  oak  gate,  and  was 
now  in  a  sorry  plight  indeed,  as  Arabella  Clinker  bent 
over  him,  awaiting  anxiously  the  verdict  of  the  doctors 
who  had  been  fetched  by  motor  from  Upminster.  Would 
he  live  or  die  ? 

Her  employer  had  had  a  bad  attack  of  nerves  upon 
hearing  of  the  accident,  and  was  now  reclining  upon 
her  boudoir  sofa,  quite  prostrated  and  in  a  high  state 
of  agitation  until  she  should  know  the  worst  —  or  best. 

Arabella  listened  intently.  Surely  the  patient  was 
whispering  something?     Yes,  she  caught  the  words. 

"  Halcyone !  "  he  murmured,  and  again,  "  Halcyone 
—  my  love !  "  and  then  he  closed  his  eyes  once  more. 

He  would  live,  the  physicians  said  after  some  hours 
of  doubt  —  with  very  careful  nursing.     But   the  long 

211 


HALCYONE 

exposure  in  the  wet,  twenty-four  hours  at  least,  with 
that  wound  in  the  head  and  the  broken  ankle,  was  a  very 
serious  matter,  and  absolute  quiet  and  the  most  highly 
skilled  attention  would  be  necessary. 

It  was  Arabella  who  made  all  the  sensible,  kind  ar- 
rangements that  night,  and  herself  sat  up  with  the  poor 
suffering  patient  until  the  nurses  could  come.  But 
it  was  Mrs.  Cricklander  who,  dignified  and  composed, 
received  the  doctors  after  the  consultation  with  Sir 
Benjamin  Grant  next  day,  before  the  celebrated  surgeon 
left  for  London,  and  she  made  her  usual  good  impression 
upon  the  great  man. 

That  the  local  lights  thought  far  more  highly  of  Ara- 
bella did  not  matter.  Mrs.  Cricklander  was  wise  enough 
to  know,  it  is  upon  the  exalted  that  a  good  effect  must 
be  produced. 

"  And,  you  are  sure,  Sir  Benjamin,  that  he  will  get 
quite  well  ?  "  she  said  tenderly,  allowing  her  handsome 
eyes  to  melt  upon  the  surgeon's  face.  "  It  matters  enor- 
mously to  me,  you  know."     Then  she  looked  down. 

Thus  appealed  to,  Sir  Benjamin  felt  he  must  give  her 
all  the  assurance  he  could. 

"  Perfectly,  dear  lady,"  he  said,  pressing  her  soft 
hand  in  sympathy.  "  He  is  young  and  strong,  and  for- 
tunately it  has  not  touched  his  brain.  But  it  will  take 
time  and  gentlest  nursing,  which  you  will  see,  of  course, 
that  he  gets." 

"  Indeed,  yes,"  the  fair  Cecilia  said.  And  when  they 
were  all  gone,  she  summoned  Arabella. 

"  You  will  let  me  know,  Arabella,  every  minute  change 

212 


HALCYONE 

in  him,"  she  commanded,  "  especially  when  he  seems  con- 
scious. And  you  will  tell  him  how  I  am  watching  over 
him  and  doing  everything  for  him.  I  can't  bear  sick 
people  —  they  upset  my  nerves,  and  I  just  can't  stand 
them.  But  the  moment  he  is  all  right  enough  to  see 
me  so  that  it  won't  bore  me,  I'll  come.  You  under- 
stand? Now  I  must  really  have  a  trional  and  get  some 
rest." 

And  when  she  was  alone  she  went  deliberately  to  the 
glass  and  smiled  radiantly  to  herself  as  she  whispered 
aloud : 

"  So  he  isn't  going  to  die  or  be  an  idiot.  In  a  few 
years  he  can  still  be  Prime  Minister.  And  I  have  got 
him  now,  as  sure  as  fate !  " 

Then  she  closed  her  mouth  with  that  firm  snap  Arabella 
knew  so  well,  and,  swallowing  her  sleeping  draught,  she 
composed  herself  for  a  peaceful  siesta. 


CHAPTER  XXII 

XT  required  all  Halcyone's  fortitude  to  act  the 
part  of  unconcern  which  was  necessary  after 
the  post  had  come  in  and  no  letter  for  her- 
self had  arrived.  The  only  possibility  of  getting 
through  the  time  until  she  should  reach  London,  and 
be  able  to  communicate  with  Cheiron  would  be  resolutely 
to  forbid  her  thoughts  from  turning  in  any  speculative 
direction.  She  knew  nothing  but  good  could  come  to 
her  —  was  she  not  protected  from  all  harm  by  every 
strong  force  of  the  night  winds,  the  beautiful  stars  and 
the  God  Who  owned  them  all?  Therefore  it  followed 
that  this  seeming  disaster  to  her  happiness  must  be  only 
a  temporary  thing,  and  if  she  bore  it  calmly  it  would 
soon  pass.  Or,  even  if  it  delayed,  there  was  the  analogy 
of  the  winter  which  for  more  than  four  months  of  the 
year  numbed  the  earth,  often  with  weeping  rain  and 
frost,  but,  however  severe  it  should  be,  there  was  always 
the  tender  springtime  following,  and  glorious  summer, 
and  then  the  fulfillment  of  autumn  and  its  fruits.  So 
she  must  not  be  cast  down  —  she  must  have  faith  and  not 
tremble. 

She  made  herself  converse  gently  with  her  step- 
father's wife,  and  won  her  liking  before  they  reached 
Paddington   station.     If  she  had  not  been   so   highly 

214 


HALCYONE 

strung  and  preoccupied,  she  would  have  been  thrilled 
in  all  her  fine  senses  at  the  idea  of  leaving  Upminster, 
further  than  which  she  had  never  been  for  the  twelve 
long  years  of  her  residence  at  La  Sarthe  Chase;  but 
now,  except  that  all  appeared  a  wild  rush  and  a  be- 
wildering noise,  the  journey  to  London  made  no  im- 
pression upon  her.  It  was  swallowed  up  in  the  one 
longing  to  get  there  —  to  be  able  somehow  to  communi- 
cate with  Cheiron,  and  have  her  anxiety  laid  to  rest. 

The  newsboys  were  selling  the  evening  papers  when 
they  arrived,  but  her  eyes,  so  unaccustomed  to  all  these 
new  sights,  did  not  warn  her  to  scan  the  headlines, 
though  as  they  were  reaching  Grosvenor  Gardens  where 
Mr.  Anderton's  town-house  was  situated,  she  did  see  the 
words :  "  Under-Secretary  of  State  for  Foreign  Affairs." 
The  sheet  had  fallen  forward  and  only  this  line  was 
visible. 

They  did  not  strike  her  very  forcibly.  She  was  quite 
unacquainted  with  the  custom  of  advertising  sensational 
news  in  London.  It  might  be  the  usual  political  an- 
nouncements —  it  surely  was,  since  she  saw  another  sheet 
as  they  got  to  the  door  with  "  Crisis  in  the  Cabinet  " 
upon  it.  And  it  comforted  her  greatly.  John,  of 
course,  was  concerned  with  this,  and  had  been  summoned 
back  suddenly,  having  had  no  possible  time  to  let  her 
know.  He  who  was  so  true  an  Englishman  must  think 
of  his  country  first.  It  seemed  like  an  answer  to  her 
prayers,  and  enabled  her  to  go  in  and  greet  her  step- 
father with  calm  and  quiet. 

James  Anderton  had  come  from  the  city  in  the  best 
15  215 


HALCYONE 

of  tempers.  The  day  had  been  a  good  one.  He  had 
received  his  wife's  telegram  announcing  that  Halcyone 
would  accompany  her  on  her  return,  and  awaited  her 
arrival  with  a  certain  amount  of  uneasy  curiosity  and 
interest.  Would  the  girl  be  still  so  terribly  like  Elaine 
and  the  rest  of  the  La  Sarthe  —  especially  Timothy, 
that  scapegrace,  handsome  Timothy,  her  father,  on 
whose  memory  and  his  own  bargain  with  Timothy's 
widow  he  never  cared  much  to  dwell? 

Yes,  she  was,  d — d  like  —  after  a  while  he  decided ; 
with  just  the  same  set  of  head  and  careless  grace,  and 
that  hateful  stamp  of  breeding  that  had  so  lamentably 
escaped  his  own  children,  half  La  Sarthe,  too.  It  was 
just  Timothy  of  the  gray  eyes  come  back  again  —  not 
Elaine  so  much  now,  not  at  all,  in  fact,  except  in  the  line 
of  the  throat. 

His  solid,  coarse  voice  was  a  little  husky,  and  those 
who  knew  him  well  would  have  been  aware  that  James 
Anderton  was  greatly  moved  as  he  bid  his  stepdaughter 
welcome. 

And  when  she  had  gone  off  to  her  room,  accompanied 
by  the  boisterous  Mabel  and  Ethel,  he  said  to  his  wife: 

"  Lu,  you  must  get  the  girl  some  decent  clothes.  She 
looks  confoundedly  a  lady,  but  that  rubbish  isn't  fair  to 
her.  Rig  her  out  as  good  as  the  rest  —  no  expense 
spared.     See  to  it  to-morrow,  my  dear." 

And  Mrs.  Anderton  promised.  She  adored  shopping, 
and  this  would  be  a  labor  of  love.  So  she  went  off  to 
dress  for  dinner,  full  of  visions  of  bright  pinks  and 

216 


HALCYONE 

blues  and  laces  and  ribbons  that  would  have  made  Hal- 
cyone shrink  if  she  had  known. 

Mabel  was  magnificently  patronizing  and  talked  a 
jargon  of  fashionable  slang  which  Haley  one  hardly  un- 
derstood. Some  transient  gleam  of  her  beloved  mother 
kept  suggesting  itself  to  her  when  Mabel  smiled.  The 
memory  was  not  distinct  enough  for  her  to  know  what 
it  was,  but  it  hurt  her.  The  big,  bouncing,  overdevel- 
oped girl  had  so  little  of  the  personality  which  she  had 
treasured  all  these  years  as  of  her  mother  —  treasured 
even  more  than  remembered. 

Ethel  had  no  faintest  look  of  La  Sarthe,  and  was  a 
nice,  jolly,  ordinary  young  person  —  dear  to  her  fa- 
ther's heart. 

At  last  they  left  Halcyone  alone  with  Priscilla,  and 
presently  the  two  threw  themselves  into  each  other's 
arms  —  for  the  old  nurse  was  crying  bitterly  now,  rock- 
ing herself  to  and  fro. 

"  Ah !  how  it  all  comes  back  to  me,  my  lamb,"  she 
sobbed.  "  He's  just  the  same,  only  older.  Hard  and 
kind  and  generous  and  never  understanding  a  thing  that 
mattered  to  your  poor,  beautiful  mother.  Oh !  she  was 
glad  to  go  at  the  end,  but  for  leaving  you.  Dear  lady  !  — 
all  borne  to  pay  your  father's  debts,  which  Mr.  Ander- 
ton  had  took  up.  I  can't  never  forgive  him  quite  —  I 
can't  never." 

And  Halcyone,  overcome  with  her  long  strain  of  emo- 
tion, cried,  too,  for  a  few  minutes  before  she  could  re- 
sume her  stern  self-control. 

217 


HALCYON E 

But  at  dinner  she  was  calm  again,  and  pale  only  for 
the  shadows  under  her  wide  eyes. 

She  had  written  her  letter  to  Cheiron  —  she  knew  not 
of  such  things  as  messenger-boys  or  cabs,  and  had  got 
Priscilla  to  post  it  for  her,  and  now  with  enforced  quiet 
awaited  his  answer  which  she  thought  she  could  receive 
on  the  morrow. 

"  There  has  been  a  crisis  in  the  Cabinet,  has  there 
not  ?  "  she  said  to  her  stepfather,  hoping  to  hear  some- 
thing, and  James  Anderton  replied  that  there  had  been 
some  split  —  but  for  his  part,  the  sooner  this  rotten  lot 
of  sleepers  had  gone  out  the  better  he  would  be  pleased ; 
a  good  sound  Radical  he  was,  like  his  friend  Mr.  Han- 
bury-Green. 

Halcyone  abruptly  turned  the  conversation.  She 
could  not,  she  felt,  discuss  her  beloved  and  his  opinions, 
even  casually,  with  this  man  of  another  class. 

Oh  !  her  poor  mother  —  her  poor,  sweet  mother !  How 
terrible  it  must  have  been  to  her  to  be  married  to  such 
a  person !  —  though  her  common  sense  prompted  her 
to  add  he  was  probably,  under  her  influence,  not  nearly 
so  coarse  and  bluff  in  those  days  as  now  he  appeared 
to  be. 

Her  little  stepbrother,  James  Albert,  had  not  re- 
turned from  his  private  school  for  the  summer  holi- 
days, so  she  perhaps  would  not  see  him  during  her 
visit. 

As  the  dinner  went  on  everything  struck  her  as  glar- 
ing, from  the  footmen's  liveries  to  the  bunches  of  red 
carnations ;  and  the  blazing  electric  lights  confused  her 

218 


HALCYONE 

brain.  She,  the  little  country  mouse,  accustomed  only 
to  old  William's  gentle  shufflings,  and  the  two  tall  silver 
candlesticks  with  their  one  wax  taper  in  each ! 

She  could  not  eat  the  rich  food,  and  if  she  had  known 
it,  she  looked  like  a  being  from  some  shadowy  world 
among  the  hearty  crew. 

Next  morning  Mr.  Carlyon  received  her  letter  as  he 
began  his  early  breakfast;  and  he  tugged  at  his  silver 
beard,  while  his  penthouse  brows  met. 

The  matter  required  the  most  careful  consideration. 
He  enormously  disliked  to  have  to  play  the  role  of  ar- 
biter of  fate,  but  he  loved  Halcyone  more  than  anything 
else  in  the  world,  and  felt  bound  to  use  what  force  he 
possessed  to  secure  her  happiness  —  or,  if  that  looked 
too  difficult,  which  he  admitted  it  did,  he  must  try  and 
save  her  from  further  unnecessary  pain. 

He  had  the  day  before  received  John  Derringham's 
letter  written  from  Wendover  and  which  Mrs.  Porrit 
had  redirected,  containing  the  news  of  the  intended  wed- 
ding, and  it  had  angered  him  greatly. 

He  blazed  with  indignation!  His  peerless  one  to  be 
made  to  take  a  mistress's  place  when  any  man  should 
be  proud  to  make  her  his  honored  wife !  "  The  brutal 
selfishness  of  men,"  he  said  to  himself,  not  blaming  John 
Derringham  in  particular.  "  He  ought  to  have  gone  off 
and  left  her  alone  when  he  felt  he  was  beginning  to  care, 
if  he  had  not  pluck  enough  to  stand  the  racket.  But  we 
are  all  the  same  —  we  must  have  what  we  want,  and  the 
women  must  pay  —  confound  us !  " 

He  had  never  doubted  but  that,  when  he  read  the 

219 


HALCYONE 

letter,  Halcyone  was  already  his  old  pupil's  wife  —  if 
indeed  such  a  ceremony  were  legal,  she  being  under  age. 
And  this  thought  added  to  his  wrath,  and  he  intended 
to  look  the  matter  up  and  see.  But,  before  he  could  do 
so,  he  got  an  evening  paper  and  read  a  brief  notice 
that  John  Derringham  had  met  with  a  severe  accident  — 
of  what  exact  nature  the  press  association  had  not  yet 
learned  —  and  was  lying  in  a  critical  condition  at  Wend- 
over  Park,  the  country  seat  of  the  "  beautiful  American 
societ}'  leader,  Mrs.  Vincent  Cricklander, "  with  whose 
name  rumor  had  already  connected  the  Under-Secretary 
of  State  for  Foreign  Affairs  in  the  most  interesting  man- 
ner, the  paragraph  added. 

So  Fate  had  stepped  in  and  saved  his  pure  night 
flower,  after  all!  But  at  what  sort  of  price?  And 
Cheiron  stared  into  space  with  troubled  eyes. 

He  passed  hours  of  anxious  thought.  He  never  did 
anything  in  a  hurry,  and  felt  that  now  he  must  especially 
consider  what  would  be  his  wisest  course. 

And  then,  this  next  morning,  Halcyone's  letter  had 
come. 

It  was  very  simple.  It  told  of  Mrs.  Anderton's  ar- 
rival at  La  Sarthe  Chase  and  of  her  own  return  to  Lon- 
don with  her  —  and  then  the  real  pith  of  it  had  crept 
out.  Had  he  heard  any  news  of  Mr.  Derringham? 
Because  she  had  seen  his  writing  upon  a  letter  Mrs.  Por- 
rit  was  readdressing  at  the  orchard  house  and,  observing 
it  was  from  London,  she  presumed  he  was  there,  and  she 
hoped  she  should  see  him. 

The  Professor  stopped  abruptly  here. 

220 


HALCYONE 

"  What  a  woman  it  is,  after  all !  "  he  exclaimed.  He 
himself  had  never  noticed  the  postmark  on  John  Der- 
ringham's  envelope  !  Then  he  folded  Halcyone's  pitiful 
little  communication  absently,  and  thought  deeply. 

Two  things  were  evident.  Firstly,  John  Derringham 
had  been  disabled  before  the  hour  when  he  should  have 
met  his  bride;  and  secondly,  she  was,  when  she  wrote, 
unaware  that  he  had  had  any  accident  at  all.  She  must 
thus  be  very  unhappy  and  full  of  horrible  anxiety  — 
his  dear  little  girl ! 

But  what  courage  and  fortitude  she  showed,  he  mused 
on,  not  to  give  the  situation  away  and  lament  even  to 
him,  her  old  friend.  She  plainly  intended  to  stand  by 
the  man  she  loved  and  never  admit  she  had  been  going 
to  marry  him  until  he  himself  gave  her  leave. 

"  The  one  woman  with  a  soul,"  Cheiron  muttered,  and 
rubbed  the  mist  away  which  had  gathered  in  his  eyes. 

He  revolved  the  situation  over  and  over.  Halcyone 
must  be  made  aware  of  the  accident,  if  she  had  not  al- 
ready read  of  it  in  the  morning  papers;  but  she  must 
not  be  allowed  to  do  anything  rash  —  and  as  he  got  thus 
far  in  his  meditations,  a  waiter  knocked  at  the  old- 
fashioned  sitting-room  door,  and  Halcyone  herself 
brushed  past  him  into  the  room. 

She  was  deadly  pale,  and  for  a  moment  did  not  speak. 

Mrs.   Anderton,  it  appeared,  thinking  she  would  be 

tired  from  her  unaccustomed  journey,  had  suggested  she 

should  breakfast  in  bed,  which  Halcyone,  thankful  to 

be  alone,  had  gratefully  agreed  to;  and  when  on  her 

breakfast  tray  which  came  up  at  eight  o'clock  she  saw 

ooi 

.-  .-  J. 


HALCYONE 

a  daily  paper,  she  had  eagerly  opened  it,  and  after 
searching  the  unfamiliar  sheets  for  the  political  news, 
her  eye  had  caught  the  paragraph  about  John  Derring- 
ham's  accident.  In  this  particular  journal  the  notice 
was  merely  the  brief  one  of  the  evening  before,  but  it 
was  enough  to  wring  Halcyone's  heart. 

She  bounded  from  bed  and  got  Priscilla  to  dress  her 
in  the  shortest  possible  time,  and  the  faithful  nurse,  see- 
ing that  her  beloved  lamb  was  in  some  deep  distress,  for- 
bore to  question  her. 

Nothing  would  have  stopped  Halcj-one  from  going 
out,  but  she  hoped  to  do  so  unperceived. 

"  Look  if  the  way  is  clear  to  the  door,"  she  implored 
Priscilla,  "  while  I  put  on  my  hat.  I  must  go  to  the 
Professor  at  once  —  something  dreadful  has  happened." 

So  Priscilla  went  and  contrived  so  that  she  got  Hal- 
cyone  out  of  the  front  door  while  the  servants  were 
busy  in  the  dining-room  about  the  breakfast.  She  hailed 
a  passing  hansom,  and  in  this,  to  the  poor  child,  novel 
conveyance,  she  was  whirled  safely  to  Cheiron's  little 
hotel  in  Jermyn  Street,  and  Priscilla  returned  to  her 
room,  to  make  believe  that  her  nursling  was  still  sleep- 
ing. 

"  Halcyone !  My  child  !  "  the  Professor  exclaimed,  to 
gain  time,  and  then  he  decided  to  help  her  out,  so  he 
went  on :  "I  am  glad  to  see  you,  but  am  very  dis- 
tressed at  the  news  in  the  paper  this  morning  about  John 
Derringham  —  you  may  have  seen  it  —  and  I  am  sure 
will  sympathize  with  me." 

Halcyone's  piteous  eyes  thanked  him. 

222 


HALCYONE 

"Yes,  indeed,"  she  said.  "What  does  it  mean? 
Ought  not  —  we  —  you  to  go  to  him  ?  " 

Mr.  Carlyon  avoided  looking  at  her. 

"  I  cannot  very  well  do  that  in  Mrs.  Cricklander's 
house,"  he  said,  tugging  at  his  beard,  to  hide  the  emo- 
tion he  felt.  "  But  I  will  telegraph  this  minute  and  ask 
for  news,  if  you  will  give  me  the  forms  —  they  are  over 
there,"  and  he  pointed  to  his  writing-table. 

She  handed  them  immediately,  and  as  he  adjusted  his 
spectacles  she  rang  the  bell;  no  time  must  be  lost,  and 
the  waiter  could  be  there  before  the  words  were  com- 
pleted. 

"  When  can  you  get  the  answer?"  she  asked  a  little 
breathlessly. 

"  In  two  hours,  I  should  think,  or  perhaps  three,"  the 
Professor  returned.  "  But  there  is  a  telephone  down- 
stairs ■ — it  has  just  been  put  in.  We  might  telephone 
to  his  rooms,  or  to  the  Foreign  Office,  and  find  out  if  they 
have  heard  any  further  news  there.  That  would  relieve 
my  mind  a  little." 

"  Yes  —  do,"  responded  Halcyone  eagerly. 

The  tone  of  repressed  anguish  in  her  soft  voice  stabbed 
Cheiron's  heart,  but  they  understood  each  other  too  well 
for  any  unnecessary  words  to  pass  between  them.  The 
kindest  thing  he  could  do  for  her  was  to  show  her  he  did 
not  mean  to  perceive  her  trouble. 

The  result  of  the  telephoning  —  a  much  longer  process 
then  than  it  is  now  —  was  slightly  more  satisfactory. 
Sir  Benjamin  Grant's  report,  the  Foreign  Office  official 
informed  them,   was  that   Mr.   Derringham's   condition 

223 


HALCYONE 

was  much  more  hopeful,  but  that  the  most  complete 
quiet  for  some  time  would  be  absolutely  necessary. 

"  John  is  so  strong,"  Mr.  Carlyon  said,  as  he  put 
down  the  receiver  which  he  had  with  difficulty  manipu- 
lated —  to  Halcyone's  trembling  impatience.  "  He  will 
pull  through.  And  all  I  can  do  is  to  wait.  He  will 
probably  be  up  at  the  end  of  my  fortnight,  when  I  get 
back  home."     And  he  looked  relieved. 

"  They  would  not  give  him  a  letter  from  you,  of  course, 
I  suppose?  "  said  Haley  one.  "  If  his  head  has  been 
hurt  it  will  be  a  long  time  before  he  is  allowed  to  read." 

Cheiron  nodded. 

"  I  am  interested,"  she  went  on,  looking  down.  "  You 
will  let  me  know,  at  Grosvenor  Gardens,  directly  you 
hear  anything,  will  you  not,  Master?  —  I — "  and  then 
her  voice  broke  a  little. 

And  Cheiron  stirred  in  his  chair.  It  was  all  paining 
him  horribly,  but  until  he  could  be  sure  what  would  be 
best  for  her  he  must  not  show  his  sympathy. 

"  I  will  send  Demetrius  with  the  answer  when  it  comes, 
and  I  will  telegraph  to  Wendover  morning  and  night, 
dear  child,"  he  said.  "  I  knew  you  would  feel  for  me." 
And  with  this,  the  sad  little  comedy  between  them  ended, 
for  Halcyone  got  up  to  leave. 

"  Thank  you,  Cheiron,"  was  all  she  said. 

Mr.  Carlyon  took  her  down  to  the  door  and  put  her 
in  the  waiting  hansom  which  she  had  forgotten  to  dis- 
miss, and  he  paid  the  man  and  reluctantly  let  her  go 
back  alone. 

She  was  too  stunned  and  wretched  to  take  in  anything. 

224 


HALCYONE 

The  streets  seemed  a  howling  pandemonium  upon  this 
June  morning  at  the  season's  full  height,  and  all  the 
gayly  dressed  people  just  beginning  to  be  on  their  way 
to  the  park  for  their  morning  stroll  appeared  a  mockery 
as  she  passed  down  Piccadilly. 

Whether  she  had  been  missed  or  no,  she  cared  not,  and 
getting  out,  rang  the  bell  with  numbed  unconcern,  never 
even  noticing  the  surprised  face  of  the  footman  as  she 
passed  him  and  ran  up  the  long  flights  of  stairs  to  her 
room,  fortunately  meeting  no  one  on  the  way.  Here 
Priscilla  awaited  her,  having  successfully  hidden  her 
absence.     It  was  half  past  ten  o'clock. 

Halcyone  went  to  the  window  and  looked  out  upon 
the  trees  in  the  triangular  piece  of  green.  They  were 
not  her  trees,  but  they  were  still  Nature,  of  a  stunted 
kind,  and  they  would  understand  and  comfort  her  or,  at 
all  events,  enable  her  to  regain  some  calm. 

She  took  in  deep  breaths,  and  gradually  a  peace  fell 
upon  her.  Her  friend  God  would  never  desert  her,  she 
felt. 

And  Priscilla  said  to  herself: 

"  She's  prayin'  to  them  Immortals,  I  expect.  Well, 
whoever  she  prays  to,  she  is  a  precious  saint." 


CHAPTER  XXIII 

'EANWHILE,  John  Derringham  lay  betwixt 
life  and  death  and  was  watched  over  by  the  kind 
eye  of  Arabella  Clinker.  She  had  gathered 
quite  a  number  of  facts  in  the  night,  while  she  had 
listened  to  his  feverish  ravings  —  he  was  light-headed 
for  several  hours  before  the  nurses  came  —  then  the 
fever  had  decreased  and  though  extremely  weak  he  was 
silent. 

Arabella  knew  now  that  he  loved  Halcyone  —  that 
wood  nymph  they  had  seen  during  their  Easter  Sunday 
walk  —  and  that  he  had  been  going  to  meet  her  when  the 
accident  had  happened.  The  rest  was  a  jumble  of  inco- 
herent phrases  all  giving  the  impression  of  intense  desire 
and  anxiety  for  some  special  event.     It  was : 

"  Then  we  shall  be  happy,  my  sweet,"  or  "  Halcyone, 
3'ou  will  not  think  me  a  brute,  then,  will  you,  my  darling,'* 
and  there  were  more  just  detached  words  about  an  oak 
tree,  and  a  goddess  and  such  like  vaporings. 

But  Arabella  felt  that,  no  doubt  the  moment  he  would 
be  fully  conscious,  he  would  wish  to  send  some  message 
—  for  during  the  two  following  days  whenever  she  went 
in  to  see  him  there  was  a  hungering  demand  in  his  hag- 
gard eyes. 

So  Miss  Clinker  took  it  upon  herself  to  stop  at  the 

226 


HALCYONE 

Professor's  house  on  one  of  her  walks,  meaning  to  beard 
Cheiron  in  his  den,  and  find  out  how  —  should  it  be  nec- 
essary —  she  could  communicate  with  Halcyone.  And 
then  she  was  informed  by  Mrs.  Porrit  that  her  master 
would  be  away  for  a  fortnight,  and  that  Miss  Halcyone 
La  Sarthe  had  been  taken  off  by  her  stepmother  —  she 
did  not  know  where  —  and  that  the  two  old  ladies  had 
actually  gone  that  day,  with  Hester  and  old  William,  to 
some  place  on  the  Welsh  coast  they  had  known  when 
they  were  children,  for  a  change  to  the  sea !  La  Sarthe 
Chase  was  shut  up.  Arabella  Clinker  was  not  suffi- 
ciently acquainted  with  the  habits  of  its  inmates  to  ap- 
preciate the  unparalleled  upheaval  this  dislodgment 
meant,  but  she  saw  that  her  informant  was  highly  sur- 
prised and  impressed. 

"  I  expect  the  poor  old  gentry  felt  too  lonely  to  stop, 
once  that  dear  Miss  Halcyone  was  gone,"  Mrs.  Porrit 
said,  "  but  there,  when  I  heard  it  you  could  have  knocked 
me  down  with  a  feather !  —  them  to  go  to  the  sea !  " 

All  this  looked  hopeless  as  far  as  communicating  with 
Halcoyne  went  —  unless  through  a  letter  to  the  Pro- 
fessor. Arabella  returned  to  Wendover  rather  cast 
down. 

She  had  been  reasoning  with  herself  severely  over  a 
point,  and  when  her  letter  went  to  her  mother  on  the 
next  Sunday,  she  was  still  undecided  as  to  what  was  her 
course  of  duty,  and  craved  her  parent's  advice. 

The  case  is  this  [she  wrote].     Being  quite  aware 
of  M.  E's.  intentions,  am  I  being  disloyal  to  her, 

227 


HALCYONE 

in  helping  to  frustrate  them  by  aiding  Mr.  Der- 
ringham  to  establish  communications  with  the  per- 
son whom  I  have  already  vaguely  hinted  to  you  I 
believe  he  is  interested  in  ?  I  do  not  feel  it  is  alto- 
gether honorable  to  take  my  salary  from  M.  E. 
and  to  go  against  what  I  know  to  be  the  strong  de- 
sire of  her  life  at  the  present  time.  On  the  other 
hand,  my  feelings  of  humanity  are  appealed  to  by 
Mr.  Derringham's  weakness,  and  by  the  very  poor 
chance  he  will  have  of  escaping  M.  E.  when  she 
begins  her  attack  during  his  convalescence.  I  have 
felt  more  easy  in  conscience  hitherto  because  I 
have  merely  stood  aside,  not  aided  the  adversary, 
but  now  there  is  a  parting  of  the  ways  and  I  am 
greatly  disturbed.  I  like  Mr.  Derringham  very 
much,  he  has  always  treated  me  with  courteous  con- 
sideration not  invariably  shown  to  me  by  M.  E.'s 
guests;  and  I  cannot  help  being  sorry  for  him,  if 
—  which  I  fear  is  almost  a  certainty  —  she  will 
secure  him  in  the  end. 

Then  the  letter  ended. 

Arabella  was  much  worried.  However,  she  felt  she 
might  remain  neutral  so  far  as  this,  that,  when  Mrs. 
Cricklander  indulged  in  endless  speculations  as  to  why 
John  Derringham  should  have  been  trying  to  cross  that 
difficult  and  dangerous  haw-haw,  she  gave  no  hint  that 
his  destination  could  have  been  other  than  the  Professor's 
little  house.  She  did  swerve  sufficiently  to  the  other 
side  to  remark  that  to  cross  the  haw-haw  would  save 
at  least  a  mile  by  the  road  if  one  were  in  a  hurry.  And 
then  her  loyalty  caused  her  to  repeat,  with  extra  care, 

228 


HALCYONE 

to  John  Derringham  in  a  whisper  the  fib  which  Mrs. 
Cricklander  wished  —  namely,  that  she,  the  fair  Cecilia, 
was  there  ready  to  come  to  him  and  sit  up  with  him, 
and  do  anything  in  the  world  for  him,  and  was  only 
prevented  by  the  doctor's  strict  orders,  fearing  the  slight- 
est excitement  for  the  patient  —  and  that  these  orders 
caused  her  great  grief. 

John  Derringham's  eyes  looked  grateful,  but  he  did 
not  speak. 

His  head  ached  so  terribly  and  his  body  was  wracked 
with  pain,  while  his  ankle,  not  having  been  set  for 
twenty-four  hours,  had  swollen  so  that  it  rendered  its 
proper  setting  a  very  difficult  matter,  and  caused  him 
unspeakable  suffering.  Sir  Benjamin  Grant  had  to 
come  down  to  Wendover  twice  again  before  things  looked 
in  more  hopeful  state. 

And  what  agonizing  thoughts  coursed  through  his 
poor  feverish  brain  —  until  through  sheer  weakness 
there  would  be  hours  when  he  was  numb. 

What  could  Halcyone  have  thought  waiting  for  him 
all  that  day !  and  now  she,  of  course,  must  have  heard  of 
his  accident  and  there  was  no  sign  or  word. 

Or  was  there  —  and  were  those  cruel  doctors  not  giv- 
ing him  the  message?  The  day  came  —  the  Wednesday 
after  Arabella  had  sent  her  letter  to  her  mother  —  when 
he  was  strong  enough  to  speak.  He  waited  for  the  mo- 
ment when  Miss  Clinker  always  arrived  with  Mrs.  Crick- 
lander's  bunch  of  flowers  and  morning  greeting  —  and 
then,  while  the  nurse  went  from  the  room  for  a  second,  he 
whispered  with  dry  lips: 

229 


H  A  L  C  Y  O  N  E 

"Will  3*ou  do  me  a  kindness?"  And  Arabella's 
brown  eyes  gleamed  softly  behind  her  glasses.  "  Let 
Miss  Halcyone  La  Sarthe  know  how  I  am  —  she  would 
come  and  meet  you  any  day  at  Mr.  Carlyon's  — "  then 
he  stopped,  disturbed  by  the  blank  look  in  Miss  Clinker's 
face. 

"  What  is  it?  "  he  gasped,  and  Arabella  saw  that  pale 
as  he  had  been,  with  his  poor  head  all  bandaged,  he 
grew  still  more  pale  —  and  she  realized  how  terribly 
weak  he  must  be,  and  how  carefully  she  must  calculate 
what  she  could  reply. 

"  I  understand  that  Mr.  Carlyon  is  in  London  upon 
a  visit,  and  that  the  Misses  La  Sarthe  have  gone  to  the 
sea  — "  and  then,  as  his  eyes  touched  her  with  their  piti- 
ful questioning  surprise,  she  blurted  out  the  truth. 

"  Miss  Halcyone  La  Sarthe  was  fetched  away  on  last 
Thursday  by  her  stepmother  —  I  did  not  hear  the  name 
—  and  no  one  knows  where  she  has  gone.  La  Sarthe 
Chase  is  shut  up." 

John  Derringham  closed  his  eyes  —  his  powers  of  rea- 
soning were  not  strong  enough  yet  to  grasp  the  actual 
meaning  of  this  —  it  seemed  to  him  as  though  Halcyone 
were  dead,  taken  away  from  him  by  some  fate  and  that 
all  things  were  at  an  end. 

Arabella  grew  very  frightened. 

"  Mr.  Carlyon  telegraphs  from  London  every  day," 
she  ventured  to  announce. 

But  this  appeared  to  bring  no  comfort,  and  the  nurse 
returning,  signed  to  her  to  leave  the  room,  for  John  Der- 
ringham lay  still  as  one  dead. 

230 


HALCYONE 

And,  when  Arabella  arrived  at  her  own  sanctum,  she 
burst  into  tears.  What  a  fool  she  had  been  to  tell  him 
that,  she  felt. 

All  these  days,  Halcyone  passed  in  a  repressed  agony 
in  spite  of  her  prayers  and  unshaken  beliefs.  She  knew 
it  was  her  winter  time  and  she  must  bear  it  until  the 
spring  should  come,  though  it  was  none  the  less  hard 
to  support.  But  she  got  through  the  hours  with  perfect 
surface  calm  —  and  her  stepsisters  thought  her  stupid 
and  dull,  while  Mrs.  Anderton  decided  there  was  some- 
thing unnatural  about  a  girl  who  took  not  the  slightest 
interest  in  shopping,  and  was  perfectly  indifferent 
about  all  the  attractive  garments  which  were  put 
upon  her  back.  She  always  expressed  her  thanks 
so  gently,  and  was  ever  sweet  and  willing  to  be 
of  use,  but  the  look  of  pain  remained  deep  in  those 
star-like,  mysterious  eyes,  and  caused  sensations 
of  discomfort  to  grow  in  Mrs.  Anderton's  kindly 
breast. 

Cheiron's  laconic  messages  were  delivered  to  Hal- 
cyone every  day  by  Demetrius. 

John  Derringham  was  no  worse. 

He  was  having  every  care. 

Sir  Benjamin  Grant  had  gone  down  again. 

His  ankle  was  satisfactorilv  set. 

But  never  a  word  that  he  had  asked  for  her,  and  yet 
she  read  in  the  morning  papers  each  day,  as  well  as 
knew  from  her  Professor's  information,  that  her  lover 
was  going  on  splendidly,  and  would  soon  be  embarked 
upon  a  convalescence.  The  paper  appeared  to  regard 
16  231 


HALCYONE 

the  accident  as  safely  over,  and  the  patient  as  returning 
to  health. 

For  Mrs.  Cricklander,  well-skilled  in  the  manipulating 
of  reporters  in  her  own  country,  knew  exactly  what  im- 
pression she  wished  to  give  to  the  press.  And  she  had 
no  intention  of  the  idea  getting  abroad  that  her  in- 
jured visitor  was  in  a  very  exhausted  condition,  because 
there  were  those  she  knew  who  would  suggest  that  she 
had  bagged  him  while  he  was  at  her  mercy  —  when,  later 
on,  they  heard  the  news  of  her  engagement,  which  she 
felt  was  each  day  growing  more  certain  of  becoming  a 
fact.  And  in  Halcyone's  brave  heart  not  a  doubt  ever 
entered  —  she  waited  and  believed  and  endured,  in  silent 
pain. 

After  Arabella's  unfortunate  announcement,  for  two 
or  three  days  John  Derringham  was  too  ill  to  know  or 
care  what  occurred,  and  then  other  and  further  torment- 
ing thoughts  began  to  trouble  his  weary  brain. 

If  Halcyone  had  a  stepmother  who  had  come  and 
taken  her  away,  there  were  then  more  persons  than  her 
ancient  aunts  to  reckon  with.  She  could  not  now  slip 
off  into  a  secret  marriage  with  himself  with  small 
chance  of  awkward  questionings.  That  phase  of  the 
dream  was  over,  he  felt. 

No  letters  of  any  sort  were  given  him  by  the  doctor's 
strict  orders,  and  his  private  secretary  had  come  down, 
an  amiable  and  intelligent  youth,  and  was  dealing  with 
the  necessary  official  correspondence  —  as  best  he  could 
—  growing  each  day  more  infatuated  with  his  fair  hos- 
tess who  felt  that  no  pawn  on  the  chessboard  which  con- 

232 


HALCYONE 

tained  John  Derringham  as  king  was  worth  neglecting. 
The  Professor  was  not  enjoying  his  fortnight  in  Lon- 
don, and  almost  tugged  his  silver  beard  out  while  he 
smoked  innumerable  pipes.  He  had  come  to  some  con- 
clusions. 

John  Derringham  having  been  unable  to  keep  the 
tryst  with  Halcyone  was  plainly  the  working  of  the 
hand  of  Fate,  which  did  not  intend  that  his  sweet  girl 
should  occupy  the  invidious  and  humiliating  position  of 
secret  wife  and  apparent  mistress  to  the  ambitious 
young  man.  Therefore  he  —  Arnold  Carlyon  —  had  no 
right  to  assist  her  again  into  John  Derringham's  arms. 
They  must  both  suffer  and  work  out  their  destinies  how- 
ever cruel  that  might  seem. 

"  If  John  really  feels  she  is  a  necessity,  he  will  brave 
everything  and  marry  her  openly  as  soon  as  he  is  well. 
If  he  does  not  —  then  I  will  not  assist  her  into  a  life  of 
misery  and  disillusion." 

He  remembered  a  talk  they  had  had  long  ago,  when 
his  old  pupil  had  given  his  views  about  women  and 
their  place  in  the  scheme  of  things.  Not  one  must  ex- 
pect a  man  to  be  faithful  to  her,  were  she  wife  or 
mistress,  he  had  said.  So  starting  heavily  handicapped 
in  the  role  of  his  secret  and  unacknowledged  wife,  Hal- 
cyone would  stand  a  very  poor  chance  of  happiness. 
Cheiron  pictured  things  —  John  Derringham  flattered 
and  courted  by  the  world  and  surrounded  by  adoring 
woman,  while  Halcyone  sat  at  home  in  some  quiet  cor- 
ner and  received  the  scraps  of  his  attentions  that  were 
left. 

233 


HALCYONE 

No !  decidedly  he  would  have  no  hand  in  aiding  the 
sorry  affair. 

So  he  used  his  influence  and  even  a  little  cunning  in 
preventing  Halcyone  from  writing  to  her  lover.  He 
was  too  ill  yet  to  be  troubled,  and  she  must  wait  until 
he  should  send  some  message  to  her. 

"  You  do  not  want  Mrs.  Cricklander  to  read  your  let- 
ter, child,"  he  said,  when  she  timidly  suggested  one  day 
that  it  would  seem  kinder  if  she  wrote  to  say  she  was 
concerned  at  the  accident  to  her  old  friend. —  The  sad 
comedy  was  still  kept  up  between  them. —  And  Halcyone 
had  stiffened.  No,  indeed!  not  that!  She  was  woman 
enough  in  spite  of  the  ennobling  and  broadening  effects 
of  her  knowledge  of  nature,  to  feel  the  stab  of  jealous 
pain,  though  she  had  resolutely  crushed  from  her 
thoughts  the  insinuation  she  had  read  of  in  the  first  no- 
tice of  the  disaster  —  about  Mrs.  Cricklander's  interest 
in  her  lover.  Her  pride  took  fire.  Certainly  until  he 
could  receive  letters  and  read  them  himself,  she  must 
wait.  Cheiron  would,  of  course,  inform  her  when  that 
time  came.  A  doubt  of  John  Derringham's  loyalty  to 
her  never  even  cast  its  shadow  upon  her  soul,  nor  a  sus- 
picion that  he  could  doubt  her  either. 

All  these  things  were  the  frosts  and  rains  of  their 
winter,  but  the  springtime  would  come  and  the  glorious 
sun  and  flowers. 

She  was  growing  accustomed  to  London  and  the  life 
of  continual  bustle,  and  was  almost  grateful  for  it  all 
as  it  kept  her  from  thinking. 

Her  stepfather  and  his  wife  mixed  in  a  rising  half- 

234 


HALCYONE 

set  of  society  where  many  people  who  were  not  fools 
came,  and  a  number  who  were,  but  to  Halcyone  they 
all  seemed  a  weariness.  No  one  appeared  to  see  any- 
thing straightly,  and  they  seemed  to  be  taken  up  with 
pursuits  that  could  not  divert  or  interest  a  cat.  She 
saw  quite  a  number  of  young  men  at  dinners  and  was 
taken  to  the  theater  and  suppers  at  the  fashionable  res- 
taurants, and  these  entertainments  she  loathed.  She  was 
too  desperately  unhappy  underneath  to  get  even  youth's 
exhilaration  out  of  them,  and  when  she  had  been  in  Lon- 
don for  nearly  three  weeks  and  Cheiron  was  preparing 
to  return  to  his  cottage,  having  delayed  his  departure 
much  beyond  his  ordinary  time,  she  felt  she  could  endure 
the  martyrdom  no  more. 

She  had  stilled  every  voice  which  had  whispered  to 
her  that  it  was  indeed  time  that  she  heard  some  word 
from  her  lover.  Because  there  were  now  only  occasional 
notices  in  the  papers  about  his  health,  he  was  supposed 
to  be  getting  well. 

"  I  will  implore  Cheiron  to  let  me  go  back  with  him," 
she  decided  firmly,  as  she  went  downstairs  to  breakfast. 
"  I  will  ask  if  I  may  not  go  out  and  see  him  this  morn- 
ing," and,  comforted  with  this  thought,  she  entered  the 
dining-room  with  a  brisker  step  than  usual.  No  one 
but  her  stepfather  was  down. 

He  had  grown  accustomed,  if  not  quite  attached,  to 
the  quiet,  gentle  girl,  and  he  liked  her  noiseless,  punctual 
way  —  they  had  often  breakfasted  alone. 

He  was  reading  his  Chronicle  propped  up  in  front  of 
him,  and  handed  her  the  Morning  Post  from  the  pile  by 

235 


HALCYONE 

his  side.  He  silently  went  on  with  his  cutlet  which  an 
obsequious  butler  had  placed  for  his  consumption.  Hal- 
cyone  turned  rapidly  to  the  column  where  she  was  accus- 
tomed to  look  daily  for  news  of  her  lover.  And  there 
she  read  that  Mrs.  Cricklander  had  been  entertaining  a 
Saturday  to  Monday  party,  and  that  Mr.  John  Der- 
ringham's  recovery  was  now  well  advanced,  even  his 
broken  ankle  was  mending  rapidly  and  he  hoped  soon 
to  be  well. 

A  tight  feeling  grew  round  her  heart,  and  her  eyes 
dropped  absently  down  the  columns  of  the  engagement 
announcements  in  which  she  took  no  interest,  and  then 
it  seemed  that  her  very  soul  was  struck  with  agony  as 
she  read: 

"  A  marriage  has  been  arranged  and  will  shortly  take 
place  between  the  Right  Honorable  John  Derringham  of 
Derringham  in  the  County  of  Northampton,  Under-Sec- 
retary of  State  for  Foreign  Affairs,  and  Mrs.  Vincent 
Cricklander  of  New  York,  daughter  of  Orlando  B. 
Muggs  of  Pittsburgh,  U.  S.  A." 

And  it  was  here  that  the  La  Sarthe  breeding  stood 
Halcyone  in  good  stead,  for  she  neither  fainted  nor 
dropped  the  paper  —  but,  after  a  few  seconds  of  acute 
anguish,  she  rose  and,  making  some  little  remark  about 
having  forgotten  something,  quietly  left  the  room. 


CHAPTER  XXIV 

XT  is  possible  that,  if  his  revolver  had  been  lying 
quite  near,  the  morning  John  Derringham 
awoke  to  the  remembrance  that  he  was  more  or 
less  an  engaged  man,  he  would  have  shot  himself,  so 
utterly  wretched  and  debased  did  he  feel.  But  no  such 
weapon  was  there,  and  he  lay  in  his  splendid  gilt  bed 
and  groaned  aloud  as  he  covered  his  eyes  with  his  hand. 

The  light  hurt  him  —  he  was  giddy,  and  his  head 
swam.  Surely,  among  other  things  in  the  half -indistinct 
nightmare  of  the  preceding  evening,  he  must  have  had 
too  much  champagne. 

From  the  moment,  now  over  a  week  ago,  that  he  had 
been  allowed  to  sit  up  in  bed,  and  more  or  less  distinct 
thought  had  come  back  to  him,  he  had  been  a  prey  to 
hideous  anxiety  and  grief.  Halcyone  was  gone  from  him 
—  had  been  snatched  away  by  Fate,  who,  with  relent- 
less vindictiveness,  had  filled  his  cup.  For  the  first  let- 
ters that  he  opened,  marked  from  his  lawyers  so  urgently 
that  they  had  been  given  to  him  before  the  bandages 
were  off  his  head,  contained  the  gravest  news  of  his 
financial  position.  The  chief  mortgagee  intended  to 
foreclose  in  the  course  of  the  next  three  months,  unless 
an  arrangement  could  be  come  to  at  once,  which  appeared 
impossible. 

237 


HALCYON E 

He  was  actually  at  bay.  Thus,  although  in  his  first 
moments  of  consciousness,  he  had  intended  to  go  directly 
he  was  well  and  demand  his  love  openly  and  chance  the 
rest,  this  news  made  that  course  now  quite  out  of  the 
question.  He  could  not  condemn  her  to  wretched  pov- 
erty and  tie  a  millstone  round  both  their  necks.  The 
doctors  had  absolutely  forbidden  him  to  read  or  even 
know  of  any  more  letters  —  the  official  ones  the  secretary 
could  deal  with  —  but  he  became  so  restless  with  anxiety 
that  Arabella  Clinker  was  persuaded  to  bring  them  up 
and  at  least  let  him  glance  at  the  addresses. 

There  was  one  from  Cheiron,  which  he  insisted  upon 
opening  —  a  brief  dry  line  of  commiseration  for  his  acci- 
dent, with  no  mention  of  Halcyone  in  it.  The  complete 
ignoring  of  his  letter  to  announce  their  marriage  cut  him 
deeply.  He  realized  Mr.  Carlyon  guessed  that  the  acci- 
dent had  happened  before  that  event  could  take  place, 
and  his  silence  about  it  showed  what  he  thought.  John 
Derringham  quivered  with  discomfort,  he  hated  to  feel 
the  whip  of  his  old  master's  contempt.  And  he  could 
not  explain  matters  or  justify  himself  —  there  was  noth- 
ing to  be  said.  The  Professor,  of  course,  knew  of  Hal- 
cyone's  whereabouts  —  but,  after  his  broad  hint  of  his 
want  of  sympathy  about  their  relations,  John  Derring- 
ham felt  he  could  not  open  the  subject  with  him  again. 
This  channel  for  the  assuagement  of  his  anxieties  was 
closed.  The  immense  pile  of  the  rest  of  his  correspond- 
ence was  at  last  sorted.  He  knew  most  of  the  writ- 
ings, and  the  few  he  was  doubtful  about  he  opened  — 
but   none   were   from  his   love.      So  he  gave  them   all 

238 


HALCYONE 

back  to  Arabella,  and  turned  his  face  from  the 
light  physically  exhausted  and  with  a  storm  of  pain 
in  his  heart. 

Mrs.  Cricklander  had  carefully  gone  through  each  post 
as  it  came,  and  longed  to  destroy  one  or  two  suspicious- 
looking  communications  she  saw  in  the  same  female  hand- 
writing—  from  his  old  friend  Lady  Durend,  if  she  had 
known !  —  but  she  dared  not,  and  indeed  was  not  really 
much  disturbed.  She  had  laid  her  own  plans  with  too 
great  a  nicety  and  felt  perfectly  sure  of  the  ultimate 
result  of  their  action.  Arabella  was  each  day  sent  up 
with  the  subtlest  messages  to  the  poor  invalid,  which  her 
honor  made  her  unwillingly  repeat  truthfully. 

Cecilia  Cricklander  was  an  angel  of  sweet,  watchful 
care,  it  seemed,  and  John  Derringham  really  felt  deeply 
grateful  to  her. 

Then  the  moment  came  when  she  decided  she  would 
see  him. 

"  I  will  go  this  afternoon  at  tea-time,  Arabella,  if  you 
can  assure  me  there  won't  be  anv  horrid  smell  of  carbolic 
or  nasty  drugs  about  —  I  know  there  always  are  when 
people  have  cuts  to  be  dressed,  and  I  really  could  not 
stand  it.  It  would  give  me  one  of  my  bad  attacks  of 
nerves." 

And  Miss  Clinker  was  reluctantly  obliged  to  assure  her 
employer  that  those  days  were  passed,  and  that  Mr. 
Derringham  now  only  looked  a  pale,  but  very  interesting 
invalid,  as  he  lay  there  with  a  black  silk  handkerchief 
tied  round  his  head. 

"  Then  I'll  go,"  said  Mrs.  Cricklander  —  and,  instead 

239 


H  A  L  C  Y  O  N  E 

of  sending  the  message  with  her  daily  flowers,  she  wrote  a 
tiny  note. 

I  can't  bear  it  any  longer  —  I  must  come ! 

Cecilia. 

Arabella  Clinker  watched  his  face  as  he  read  this,  and 
saw  a  flush  grow  in  his  ivory-pale  skin. 

"  Oh !  Poor  Mr.  Derringham !  "  she  thought,  "  it 
isn't  fair !  How  can  he  hold  out  against  her  when  he  is 
so  weak  —  what  ought  I  to  do  ?  If  I  only  knew  what 
is  my  loyal  course !  " 

Arabella  was  perfectly  aware  how  the  reports  of  his 
rapid  recovery  had  been  circulated  —  and  guessed  the 
reason  —  and  all  her  kind  woman's  heart  was  touched 
as  she  watched  him  lying  there  in  splints,  as  pitiful  and 
helpless  as  a  baby.  To  pretend  that  he  was  making  a 
quick  return  to  health  was  so  very  far  from  the  truth. 
She,  herself,  saw  little  change  for  the  better  from  day 
to  day ;  indeed,  his  large,  proud  eyes  seemed  to  grow 
more  anxious  and  haggard  as  the  time  went  on. 

Mrs.  Cricklander  donned  her  most  suitably  ravishing 
tea-gown,  one  of  subdued  simplicity  —  and,  like  a  beau- 
tiful summer  flower,  she  swept  into  the  invalid's  room 
when  the  lowered  sun  blinds  made  the  light  restful  and 
the  June  roses  filled  the  air  with  scent.  It  was  the  end 
of  the  month  and  glorious  weather  was  over  the  land. 

Nothing  could  have  been  more  exquisite  than  Cecilia's 
sympathy.  Indeed,  she  did  feel  a  good  deal  moved,  and 
was  a  superb  actress  at  all  times. 

244) 


HALCYON E 

She  only  stayed  a  very  short  while,  not  to  tire  him, 
and  John  Derringhara,  left  alone,  was  conscious  that  he 
had  been  soothed  and  pleased,  and  she  departed  leaving 
the  impression  that  her  love  for  him  was  only  kept 
within  bounds  by  fear  for  his  health ! 

She  had  suffered  so  during  all  the  days !  she  told  him, 
she  could  hardly  eat  or  sleep.  And  then  to  be  debarred 
from  nursing  him !  —  the  cruelty  of  it !  Why  the  doc- 
tors should  have  thought  her  presence  would  be  more 
disturbing  than  Arabella's,  she  could  not  think!  And 
here  she  looked  down,  and  her  white  hand,  with  its  per- 
fectly kept  nails,  lying  upon  the  coverlet  so  near  him, 
John  Derringham  lifted  it  in  his  feeble  grasp  and  touched 
it  with  his  lips.  He  was  so  grateful  for  her  kindness 
—  and  affected  by  her  beauty ;  he  could  not  do  less,  he 
felt. 

And  after  that,  with  a  deliciously  girlish  and  confused 
gasp,  Mrs.  Cricklander  had  hastily  quitted  the  room. 

It  was  not  until  the  second  day  that  she  came  again  — 
and  he  had  begun  to  wish  for  her. 

This  time  she  was  bright  and  amusing,  and  assumed 
airs  of  authority  over  him,  and  was  careful  never  to  sit 
so  that  her  hand  might  be  in  reach,  while  she  used  every 
one  of  her  many  arts  of  tantalization  and  enjoyed  her- 
self as  only  she  knew  how  to  do. 

It  was  perfectly  divine  to  have  him  there  to  play  upon 
like  a  violin  and  to  know  it  was  only  a  question  of  time 
before  she  would  secure  him  for  her  own ! 

After  this,  she  had  visitors  in  the  house  and  did  not 
come  for  three  days,  and  John  Derringham  felt  a  little 

241 


HALCYONE 

peevish  and  aggrieved.  It  rained,  too,  and  his  head 
ached  still  with  the  slightest  exertion. 

He  now  began  to  put  all  thoughts  of  Halcyone  away 
from  him,  as  far  as  he  was  able.  It  was  too  late  to  do 
anything  —  she  must  think  him  base,  as  she  had  never 
sent  him  one  word.  This  caused  him  restless  anguish. 
What  was  the  meaning  of  it  all  ?  Could  she  have  learned 
in  the  light  of  the  world  that  it  was  not  a  very  great 
position  he  had  offered  her,  and  so  despised  him  in  con- 
sequence? What  aspect  of  it  might  they  not  have  put 
into  her  head  —  these  people  she  was  with  —  this  step- 
mother of  whom  he  had  never  heard?  In  all  cases  Fate 
had  parted  them,  and  he  must  cut  the  pain  of  it  from  his 
life  or  it  would  destroy  him.  It  never  occurred  to  him 
to  reflect  upon  the  possible  agony  she  might  be  suffer- 
ing, his  poor  little  wood-nymph,  all  alone.  The  fact  of 
his  own  unhappiness  filled  his  mind  to  the  exclusion  of 
any  other  thought  for  the  time.  In  his  dire  physical 
weakness  Cecilia  Cricklander's  gracious  beauty  seemed 
to  augment,  and  Haley  one's  sylph-like  charm  to  grow 
of  less  potent  force.  For  Love  had  not  done  all  that  he 
would  yet  do  with  John  Derringham's  soul. 

That  underneath,  if  he  could  have  chosen  between 
the  two  women,  he  would  have  hesitated  for  a  second  was 
not  the  case;  only  physical  weakness,  and  circumstance 
and  propinquity  were  working  for  the  one  and  against 
the  other  —  and  so  it  would  appear  was  Fate. 

Thus,  the  day  the  visitors  left,  Mr.  Hanbury-Green 
among  them,  the  invalid  was  experiencing  a  sense  of 
exasperating    neglect.     He    felt    extremely    miserable. 

242 


HALC YONE 

Life,  and  all  he  held  good  in  it,  seemed  to  be  over  for 
him,  and  his  financial  position  was  absolutely  desperate 
—  quite  beyond  any  question  of  marriage  it  threatened 
to  swamp  his  actual  career.  He  felt  impotent  and 
beaten,  lying  there  like  a  log  unable  to  move. 

Mrs.  Cricklander  sent  him  another  little  note  in  the 
afternoon.  Arabella  had  reported  that  the  patient  was 
restless,  and  this  might  mean  one  of  two  things  —  either 
that  he  was  becoming  impatient  to  see  her,  or  that  he  \v;is 
growing  restive  and  bored  with  bed.  In  either  case  it 
was  the  moment  to  strike  —  and  to  strike  quickly. 

"  The  doctors  have  said  you  may  have  a  taste  of 
champagne  to-night,"  she  wrote,  which  was  quite  un- 
true, but  a  small  fib  like  this  could  not  count  when  such 
large  issues  were  at  stake.  "  And  so  I  propose,  if  you 
will  let  me  and  will  have  me  for  your  guest,  to  come  and 
dine  with  you  to  celebrate  the  event.  Say  if  I  may. 
Cecilia." 

And  he  had  eagerly  scribbled  in  pencil,  "  Yes." 

So  she  came,  and  was  all  in  white  with  just  a  red  rose 
in  her  dress,  and  she  was  solicitous  about  his  comfort  — 
had  he  enough  pillows  ?  —  and  she  spoke  so  graciously 
to  the  nurse  who  arranged  things  before  she  went  to 
her  supper. 

She,  Cecilia,  would  be  his  nurse,  she  whispered  —  just 
for  to-night !  and  then  her  own  personal  footman  brought 
in  an  exquisite  little  dinner  upon  a  table  which  he  set 
near  the  bed,  all  noiselessly  —  it  had  been  arranged  out- 
side—  and  she  would  select  just  the  tenderest  morsels 
for  John  Derringham,  or  some  turtle  soup  ?  —  He  was 

243 


HALCYONE 

not  hungry  !  —  Well,  never  mind,  she  would  feed  him !  — 
and  he  must  be  good  and  let  her  pet  him  as  she  felt  in- 
clined. 

She  was  looking  quite  extraordinarily  beautiful,  with 
all  the  light  of  triumph  in  her  sparkling  eyes,  and  she 
sat  down  upon  the  bed  and  actually  pretended  that  if 
he  were  disobedient  she  would  put  pieces  into  his 
mouth ! 

John  Derringham  was  a  man  —  and,  although  he  felt 
very  ill  and  feeble,  after  she  had  made  him  drink  some 
champagne,  the  seduction  of  her  began  to  go  to  his 
head.  Stimulant  of  any  kind  was  the  last  thing  he 
should  have  had,  and  would  have  caused  the  nurse  a 
shock  of  horror  if  she  had  known.  How  it  all  came 
about  he  could  not  tell,  what  she  said  or  he  said  he  could 
never  remember,  only  the  one  thing  which  stood  out  was 
that  as  the  time  for  the  nurse's  return  arrived,  he  knew 
that  Cecilia  Cricklander  was  kissing  him  with  apparent 
passion,  which  he  felt  in  some  measure  he  was  returning, 
and  that  she  was  murmuring :  "  And  we  shall  be  mar- 
ried, darling  John,  as  soon  as  you  are  well." 

He  must  have  said  something  definite,  he  supposed. 

But,  at  that  moment,  the  nurse  was  heard  in  the  next 
room  and  his  fiancee  —  yes,  his  fiancee  —  got  up  and, 
when  the  woman  came  in  in  her  stiff  nurse's  dress,  slightly 
apologetic  that  she  had  been  so  long,  she  was  greeted  by 
this  speech  from  the  lady  of  the  house : 

"  Ah,  Nurse  Brome,  you  have  been  so  good  to  Mr. 
Derringham,  you  must  be  the  first  to  wish  us  happiness 
and  share  our  news.     We  are  going  to  be  married  as 

244 


HALCYON E 

soon  as  ever  you  get  him  well  —  so  you  must  hasten  that, 
like  the  clever  woman  you  are !  " 

And  she  had  laughed,  a  soft  laugh  of  triumph,  which 
even  in  his  light-headed  state  had  seemed  to  John  Der- 
ringham  as  the  mocking  of  some  fiend. 

Then  she  had  left  him  quickty,  while  the  footman  car- 
ried the  table  from  the  room  —  and  after  that  he  re- 
membered nothing  more,  he  had  fallen  into  a  feverish 
sleep.  But  the  next  morning,  when  he  awoke,  he  knew 
captivit}r  had  indeed  tumbled  upon  him,  and  that  he  was 
chained  hand  and  foot. 

And  all  the  day  his  temperature  went  up  again,  and 
he  was  not  allowed  to  see  even  Arabella  of  the  kind 
heart,  who  would  have  come  and  condoled  with  him,  and 
even  wept  over  him  if  she  had  dared,  so  moved  did  the 
good  creature  feel  at  his  fate. 

It  was  only  upon  the  third  day,  when  telegrams  of 
congratulation  began  to  pour  in  upon  him  by  the  dozen, 
that  he  knew  anything  about  the  announcement  that  had 
appeared  in  the  Morning  Post. 

Yes,  he  was  caught  and  chained  at  last,  and  for  the 
next  week  had  moods  of  gnashing  his  teeth,  and  feeling 
the  most  degraded  of  men,  alternating  with  hours  of 
trying  to  persuade  himself  that  it  was  the  best  thing 
which  could  have  happened  to  him. 

Mrs.  Cricklander,  now  that  she  had  gained  her  end, 
wisely  left  him  for  a  day  or  two  in  peace  to  the  care  of 
Arabella  and  the  nurses,  drawing  the  net  closer  each 
hour  by  her  public  parade  of  her  position  as  his  fiancee. 
She  wrote  the  most  exquisite  and  womanly  letter  to  thank 

245 


HALCYONE 

her  many  friends  for  their  kind  congratulations  —  and 
lamented,  now  that  the  truth  being  known  would  not 
matter,  that  John  had  had  a  slight  relapse,  and  was  not 
quite  so  well. 

But,  of  course,  she  was  taking  every  care  of  him,  and 
so  he  soon  would  be  his  old  exuberant  self ! 

Thus  the  period  of  John  Derringham's  purgatory  be- 
gan. 


Gf 


CHAPTER  XXV 

'RIEVING  is  such  a  satisfactory  and  dramatic 
thing  when  you  can  fling  yourself  down  upon 
the  ground  and  cry  aloud  and  tear  your  hair. 
But  if  some  great  blow  must  be  borne  without  a  sign, 
then  indeed  it  wrings  the  heart  and  saps  the  forces  of 
life. 

When  Halcyone  got  to  her  room,  the  housemaids  were 
there  beginning  to  make  her  bed  —  so  it  was  no  refuge 
for  her  —  and  she  was  obliged  to  go  down  again.  The 
big  drawing-rooms  would  be  untenanted  at  this  moment, 
so  she  turned  the  handle  of  the  door  and  crept  in  there. 
The  modern  brightly  gilt  Louis  XVI  furniture  glared 
at  her,  but  she  sank  into  a  big  chair  thankful  to  find  any 
support. 

What  was  this  which  had  fallen  upon  her?  —  The  win- 
ter, indeed  —  or,  more  than  that,  not  only  the  winter  but 
the  end  of  life,  like  the  flash  of  lightning  which  had 
struck  the  tree  in  the  park  the  night  before  that  day 
which  was  to  have  seen  her  wedding? 

And  as  she  sat  there  in  dumb,  silent,  hideous  agony 
which  crushed  for  the  moment  belief  and  hope,  a  canary 
from  the  aviary  beyond  set  up  a  trilling  song.  She  lis- 
tened for  a  second;  it  seemed  to  hurt  her  more.  The 
poor  bird  was  in  captivity,  as  was  her  soul.  And  then, 
17  247 


HALCYONE 

while  the  little  songster  went  on,  undismayed  by  its 
cage,  a  reaction  set  in.  If  the  soft-feathered  creature 
could  sing  there  beyond  the  bars,  what  right  had  she 
to  doubt  God  for  one  second?  No  —  there  should  never 
be  any  disbelief.  It  was  only  the  winter,  after  all. 
She  was  too  young  to  die  like  the  tree  which  had  been 
there  for  some  hundreds  of  years.  She  would  be  as 
brave  as  the  bird,  and  those  forces  of  nature  which  she 
had  loved  and  trusted  so  long,  would  comfort  her. 

She  sat  there  for  a  quarter  of  an  hour  saying  her  pray- 
ers and  stilling  the  pain  in  her  heart  —  and  then  she  got 
up  and  deliberately  went  back  to  the  dining-room,  where 
the  family  were  all  assembled  now. 

They  chaffed  about  everything,  and  were  boisterous 
and  jovial  as  usual,  and  when  she  asked  if  she  might 
go  and  see  her  old  master,  should  Mrs.  Anderton  not 
wish  especially  for  her  company  that  morning,  her  step- 
father offered  to  drive  her  there  in  his  phaeton  on  his  way 
to  the  city. 

"  She  grows  upon  one,  Lu,"  he  said  to  his  wife,  when 
Halc3rone  had  gone  up  to  put  on  her  hat.  "  She  is 
like  some  quiet,  soothing  book ;  she  is  a  kind  of  comfort 
—  but  she  looks  confoundedly  pale  to-day.  Take  her 
to  the  play  to-night,  or  ask  some  young  fellows  in  to  din- 
ner, to  cheer  her  up." 

The  drive  did  Halcyone  good,  and,  to  the  astonish- 
ment of  Cheiron  who  had  also  read  the  news,  she  walked 
into  his  sitting-room  with  perfect  calm.  He  himself  was 
raging  with  indignation  and  disgust. 

But,  when  he  looked  into  her  deep  eyes,  his  astonish- 

248 


HALCYONE 

ment  turned  to  pain,  for  the  expression  in  them  as  they 
burned  from  her  lifeless  face  was  so  pure,  so  pitiful 
and  so  tragic,  that  it  left  him  without  words  for  the  mo- 
ment. 

At  last  he  said  —  when  she  had  greeted  him : 

"  I  have  been  thinking,  Halcyone,  that  I  have  not  had 
a  trip  abroad  for  a  long  time,  but  I  am  too  old  now  to 
care  about  going  alone.  Do  you  think  that  your  aunts 
and  these  step-relations  of  yours  would  spare  you  to 
accompany  me,  my  dear  ?  " 

And  Halcyone  had  to  turn  awa}^  to  the  window  to  hide 
the  tears  which  suddenly  welled  up;  he  was  so  kind  and 
understanding  always  —  her  dear  old  master! 

"  Yes,  I  am  sure  they  would,"  she  said  in  a  very  low 
voice.  "  How  good  of  you.  And  if  we  could  start  at 
once  —  that  would  be  nice,  would  it  not?  I  suppose 
they  would  not  let  me  go  without  Priscilla,  though,"  she 
added;  "  would  that  matter?  " 

"  Not  at  all,"  said  the  Professor. 

They  neither  of  them  mentioned  John  Derringham's 
engagement.  They  talked  long  about  the  possibilities 
of  their  foreign  journey,  and  Cheiron  felt  himself  repaid 
when  he  began  to  observe  a  look  of  returning  life  creep 
into  her  white  face. 

"  I  will  call  and  see  your  stepfather  in  the  city  di- 
rectly after  lunch,"  he  said.  "  If  you  will  write  to  your 
Aunts  La  Sarthe,  I  do  not  think  there  can  be  any  objec- 
tion." 

"  We  could  take  Aphrodite,  could  we  not?  "  Halcyone 
asked.     "  She  is  very  heavy,  I  know,  but  I  would  carry 

249 


HALCYONE 

her,  and  I  do  not  think  I  would  like  to  leave  her  there 
in  the  dark  away  from  me  for  all  that  time." 

"  We  would  certainly  take  her,"  said  Cheiron. 

Halcyone  knew  enough  about  London  now  to  know 
where  Kensington  Gardens  were.  Whenever  she  went 
to  see  Mr.  Carlyon,  it  was  an  understood  thing  he  would 
bring  her  safely  back,  so  no  one  would  be  sent  to  fetch 
her.  Might  they  not  go  to  Kensington  Gardens  this 
morning,  she  asked.  She  remembered  to  have  noticed, 
when  she  had  driven  past  with  Mr.  Anderton,  that  there 
seemed  to  be  big  trees  there.  She  wanted  to  get  into 
some  open  space,  London  was  stifling  her. 

Mr.  Carlyon  put  on  his  hat,  and  prepared  to  accom- 
pany her.  They  drove  to  the  first  gate  and  got  out, 
neither  having  spoken  a  word,  as  was  their  habit  when 
both  were  thinking. 

They  wandered  in  among  the  trees  and  found  two 
chairs  and  sat  down. 

These  were  real  trees,  Halcyone  felt.  And,  although 
she  would  have  preferred  to  be  alone  to-day  without  even 
Cheiron,  the  great  trunks  and  vast  leafy  canopy  above 
them  comforted  her. 

She  would  not  permit  herself  to  think,  the  beauty  of 
the  summer  day  must  just  saturate  her,  and  soothe  the 
cold,  sick  ache  in  her  heart.  And,  presently,  when  she 
was  strengthened,  she  would  face  it  all  and  see  what  it 
could  mean,  and  what  would  be  best  to  do  to  bear  the 
blow  as  a  La  Sarthe  should,  and  show  nothing  of  the 
anguish. 

And,  as  she  mused,  her  eyes  absently  wandered  to  a 

250 


HALCYONE 

couple  under  a  tree  some  twenty  yards  beyond  them. 
There  was  something  familiar  in  the  girl's  graceful  back, 
and,  as  she  turned  her  fresh  face  to  look  at  her  com- 
panion, Halcyone  saw  that  it  was  Cora  Lutworth. 

Some  magnetic  spark  seemed  to  connect  them,  for 
the  pretty  American  girl  turned  completely  round  in  her 
chair,  and  catching  sight  of  the  two  jumped  up  and 
came  towards  them  —  with  glad,  laughing  eyes  and  out- 
stretched hands. 

"  To  see  you !  "  she  exclaimed.  "  That  is  so  good ! 
There  is  no  Styx  here,  and  we  must  have  some  fun  to- 
gether !  " 

She  sat  down  upon  a  chair  which  Lord  Freynault 
dragged  up  for  her,  and  he  himself  took  another  beyond 
the  Professor  —  so  the  two  girls  could  talk  together. 

"  I  am  going  to  be  married  —  you  know !  "  Cora  an- 
nounced gayly.  "  Frej-nie  and  I  settled  it  at  a  ball  last 
night,  but  we  haven't  told  anyone  yet!  Isn't  it  lovely? 
We  just  slipped  out  here  for  a  little  quiet  talk." 

"  I  am  so  glad.  I  hope  you  will  be  very  happy,"  Hal- 
cyone said,  and  tried  not  to  let  the  contrast  of  Cora's  joy- 
ous prospect  make  her  wince. 

"  I  am  always  happy,"  Cora  returned,  "  and  it's  dear 
of  you  to  wish  me  nice  things." 

Halcyone  attracted  her  immensely,  her  quite  remarka- 
ble personal  distinction  was  full  of  charm,  and,  now  in 
fresh  and  pretty  modern  clothes,  to  Cora's  eyes  she  looked 
almost  beautiful;  but  why  so  very  pale  and  quiet,  she 
wondered;  and  then,  with  a  flash,  she  remembered  the 
news  she  too  had  read  in  the  paper  that  morning.     Per- 

251 


HALCYONE 

haps  Halcyone  minded  very  much.  She  decided  rapidly 
what  to  do.  If  she  did  not  mention  it  at  all,  she  rea- 
soned, this  finely  strung  girl  would  know  that  she  guessed 
it  would  be  painful  to  her  —  and  that  might  hurt  her 
pride.     It  was  kinder  to  plunge  in  and  get  it  over. 

"  Isn't  it  wonderful  about  Mr.  Derringham  and  Ce- 
cilia Cricklander?  "  she  said,  pretending  to  be  busy  un- 
tangling her  parasol  tassel.  "  She  always  intended  to 
marry  him  —  and  she  is  so  rich  I  expect  he  felt  that 
would  be  a  good  thing.  Freynie  says  he  is  very  much 
harder  up  then  anyone  knows." 

Her  kind,  common  sense  told  her  that  a  man's  doing 
even  a  low  thing  for  expediency  would  hurt  a  woman 
who  loved  him,  less  than  that  the  motive  for  his  action 
should  have  been  one  of  inclination. 

Halcyone  came  up  to  the  scratch,  although  a  fierce 
pain  tightened  her  heart  afresh. 

"  Yes,"  she  said,  "  I  suppose  no  one  was  surprised  to 
read  of  the  engagement  in  the  papers  to-day.  I  can 
imagine  that  a  man  requires  a  great  deal  of  money  to 
support  the  position  in  the  government  which  Mr.  Der- 
ringham has,  and  no  doubt  Mrs.  Cricklander  is  glad  to 
give  it  to  him  —  he  is  so  clever  and  great."  And  not  a 
muscle  of  her  face  quivered  as  she  spoke. 

"  If  it  does  hurt  —  my  goodness  !  she  is  game !  "  Cora 
thought,  and  aloud  she  went  on,  "  Cecilia  isn't  a  bad 
sort  —  a  shocking  snob,  as  all  of  us  are  who  are  not  the 
real  thing  and  want  to  be  —  like  your  own  common  push- 
ers over  here.  We  used  to  laugh  at  her  awfully  when 
she  first  came  from  Pittsburgh  and  tried  to  cut  in  before 

252 


HALCYONE 

she  married  my  cousin.  Poor  old  Vin !  He  was  crazy 
about  her."  Then  she  went  on  reflectively,  as  Halcyone 
did  not  answer.  "  We  often  think  you  English  people 
are  so  odd  —  the  way  you  can't  distinguish  between  us ! 
You  receive,  with  open  arms,  the  most  impossible  people 
if  they  are  rich,  that  we  at  home  would  not  touch  with 
a  barge  pole,  and  you  say:  i  Oh,  they  are  just  Ameri- 
can,' as  if  we  were  all  the  same!  And  then  we  are  so 
awfully  clever  as  a  nation  that  in  a  year  or  two  these 
dreadful  vulgarians,  as  we  would  call  them  in  New  York, 
have  picked  up  all  your  outside  polish,  and  pass  as  our 
best !  It  makes  lots  of  the  really  nice  old  gentle-folk 
at  home  perfectly  mad  —  but  I  can't  help  admiring  the 
spirit.  That  is  why  I  have  stuck  to  Cis,  though  the  rest 
of  the  family  have  given  her  the  cold  shoulder.  It  is 
such  magnificent  audacity  —  don't  you  think  so  ?  " 

"  Yes,  indeed,"  agreed  Halc3rone.  "  All  people  have  a 
right  to  obtain  what  they  aspire  to  if  they  fit  themselves 
for  it." 

"  That  is  one  of  Mr.  Derringham's  pet  theories,"  Cora 
laughed.  "  He  held  forth  one  night,  when  I  was  staying 
at  Wendover  at  Easter,  about  it  —  and  it  was  such  fun. 
Cis  did  not  really  understand  a  single  thing  of  the  clas- 
sical allusions  he  was  making  —  but  she  got  through.  I 
watch  her  with  delight.  Men  are  sweetly  simple  bats, 
though,  aren't  they?  Any  woman  can  take  them  in — " 
and  Cora  laughed  again  joyously.  "  I  have  sat  some- 
times in  fits  to  hear  Cis  keeping  a  whole  group  of  your 
best  politicians  enthralled,  and  not  one  seeing  she  is  just 
repeating  parrot  sentences.     You  have  only  to  be  rich 

253 


HALCYONE 

and  beautiful  and  look  into  a  man's  eyes  and  flatter  him, 
and  you  can  make  him  believe  you  are  what  you  please. 
Now  Freynie  thinks  I  am  absolutely  perfect  when  I  am 
really  being  a  horrid  little  capricious  minx  —  don't  you, 
Freynie,  dear !  "  and  she  leaned  over  and  looked  at  her 
betrothed  with  sweet  and  tender  eyes  —  and  Lord  Frey- 
nault  got  up  and  moved  his  chair  round,  so  that  the  four 
were  in  a  circle. 

"What  preposterous  thing  is  Cora  telling  you?"  he 
laughed,  with  an  adoring  glance  at  her  sparkling  face. 
"  But  I  am  getting  j  ealous,  and  shall  take  her  away  be- 
cause I  want  to  talk  to  her  all  to  myself !  " 

And,  when  they  had  settled  that  the  two  girls  should 
meet  at  tea  the  following  day  in  Cora's  sitting-room 
at  Claridge's,  where  she  was  staying  with  a  friend,  the 
newly  engaged  pair  went  off  together  beaming  with  joy 
and  affection. 

And  Halcyone  gazed  after  them  with  a  wistful  look 
in  her  sad  eyes,  which  stabbed  the  old  Professor's  heart. 

She  was  remembering  the  morning  under  their  tree, 
when  she  and  her  lover  had  sat  and  made  their  plans,  and 
he  had  asked  her  if  she  had  any  fear  at  the  thought  of 
giving  him  her  future. 

It  was  only  three  weeks  ago.  Surely  everything  was 
a  dream.  How  much  he  had  seemed  to  love  her.  And 
then  unconsciously  she  started  to  her  feet,  and  strode 
Away  among  the  trees,  forgetful  of  her  companion  —  and 
Cheiron  sat  and  watched  her,  knowing  she  would  come 
back  and  it  was  better  to  let  her  overcome  alone  the  agony 
which  was  convulsing  her. 

254- 


HALCYON E 

Yes,  John  Derringliam  had  seemed  to  love  her  —  not 
seemed  —  no  —  it  was  real  —  he  had  loved  her.  And 
she  would  never  believe  but  that  he  loved  her  still. 
This  was  only  a  wicked  turn  of  those  bad  forces  which 
she  knew  were  abroad  in  the  world.  Had  she  not  seen 
evil  once  in  a  man's  face  crouching  in  the  bracken, 
as  he  set  a  trap  for  some  poor  hare  one  dark  and  starry 
night?  And  she  had  passed  on,  and  then,  when  she 
thought  he  would  be  gone,  she  had  returned  and  loosened 
the  spring  before  it  could  do  any  harm.  That  poacher 
had  evil  forces  round  him.  They  were  there  always  for 
the  unwary,  and  had  fastened  upon  John.  She  would 
never  doubt  his  love,  and  she  herself  could  never  change, 
and  she  would  pour  upon  him  all  her  tender  thoughts, 
and  call  to  the  night  winds  to  help  her  to  do  her  duty. 

So  presently  she  remembered  Cheiron,  and  turned 
round  to  see  him  far  away  still,  sitting  quietly  beneath 
a  giant  elm  stroking  his  long,  silver  beard. 

"  My  dear,  kind  master !  "  she  exclaimed  to  herself, 
and  went  rapidly  back  to  him. 

"  That  is  a  charming  girl  —  your  young  friend,"  he 
said  to  her,  as  he  got  up  to  stroll  to  the  gate ;  "  full 
of  life  and  common  sense.  There  is  something  won- 
derful in  the  vitality  of  her  nation.  They  jar  dread- 
fully upon  us  old  tired  peoples  in  their  worst  aspects  — 
but  in  their  best  we  must  recognize  a  new  spring  of 
life  and  youth  for  the  world.  Yonder  young  woman 
is  not  troubling  about  a  soul,  if  she  has  one;  she  is 
a  fountain  of  living  water.  She  has  not  taken  on  the 
shadows  of  our  crowded  past.     Halcyone,  my  dear,  you 

255 


H ALCYONE 

and  I  are  the  inheritance  of  too  much  culture.  When 
I  see  her  I  want  to  cry  with  Epicurus :  '  Above  all, 
steer  clear  of  Culture ! '  "  And  then  he  branched  from 
this  subject  and  plunged  into  a  learned  dissertation 
upon  the  worship  of  Dionysus,  and  how  it  had  cropped 
up  again  and  again  with  wild  fervor  among  the  ancient 
worlds  whose  senses  and  brains  were  wearied  with  the 
state  religions,  and  he  concluded  by  analogy  that  this 
wild  longing  to  return  to  youth's  follies  and  mad 
ecstasies,  to  get  free  from  restraints,  to  seek  communion 
with  the  spiritual  beyond  in  some  exaltation  of  the  emo- 
tions —  in  short,  to  get  back  to  nature  —  was  an  instinct 
in  all  human  beings  and  all  nations,  when  their  zeniths 
of  art  and  cultivation  had  come. 

And  Halcyone,  who  had  heard  it  all  before  and  knew 
the  subject  to  her  finger  tips,  wandered  dreamily  into 
a  shadowland  where  she  felt  she  was  of  these  people  — 
those  far  back  worshipers  —  and  this  was  her  winter 
when  Dionysus  was  dead,  but  would  live  again  when  the 
spring  came  and  the  flowers. 


CHAPTER  XXVI 

'RS.  CRICKLANDER  felt  it  would  be  discreet 
and  in  perfect  taste  if  she  announced  her  in- 
tention of  going  off  to  Carlsbad  the  week  after 
her  engagement  was  settled  —  she  was  always  most 
careful  of  decorum.  And,  if  the  world  of  her  friends 
thought  John  Derringham  was  well  enough  to  be  mak- 
ing love  to  her  in  the  seclusion  of  her  own  house,  it 
would  be  much  wiser  for  her  to  show  that  she  should 
always  remain  beyond  the  breath  of  any  gossip. 

In  her  heart  she  was  bored  to  tears.  For  nearly  the 
whole  of  June  she  had  been  cooped  up  at  Wendover  — 
for  more  than  half  the  time  without  even  parties  of 
visitors  to  keep  her  company  —  and  she  loathed  being 
alone.  She  had  no  personal  resources  and  invariably 
at  such  times  smoked  too  much  and  got  agitated  nerves 
in  consequence. 

John  Derringham  —  strong  and  handsome,  with  his 
prestige  and  his  brilliant  faculties  —  was  a  conquest 
worth  parading  chained  to  her  chariot  wheels.  But 
John  Derringham,  feeble,  unable  to  walk,  his  ankle  in 
splints  and  plaster  of  Paris,  and  still  suffering  from 
headaches  whenever  the  light  was  strong,  was  simply  a 
weariness  to  her  —  nothing  more  nor  less. 

So   that,   until   he   should   be    restored   to   his    usual 

257 


HALCYONE 

captivating  vigor,  it  was  much  better  for  her  pleasure 
to  leave  him  to  his  complete  recovery  alone,  now  that 
she  had  got  him  securely  in  her  keeping. 

Arabella  could  ask  her  mother  down  and  keep  house 
and  see  that  he  had  everything  in  the  world  that  he 
wanted  —  and  there  were  the  devoted  nurses.  And,  in 
short,  her  doctor  had  said  she  must  have  her  usual  cure, 
and  that  was  the  end  of  the  matter! 

She  had  only  made  him  the  most  fleeting  visits  dur- 
ing the  week.  He  had  really  been  ill  after  the  fever 
caused  by  the  champagne.  And  she  had  been  exquis- 
itely gentle  and  not  too  demonstrative.  She  had  cal- 
culated the  possibility  of  his  backing  out  under  the 
plea  of  his  health,  so  she  determined  not  to  give  him 
a  chance  to  have  the  slightest  excuse  by  overtiring  him. 

No  one  could  have  better  played  the  part  of  de- 
voted, understanding  friend  who  by  excess  of  love  had 
been  betrayed  into  one  lapse  of  passionate  outburst,  and 
now  wished  only  to  soothe  and  comfort. 

"  She  is  a  good  sort,"  John  Derringham  thought, 
after  her  first  visit.  "  She  will  let  me  down  easy  in 
any  case,"  and  the  ceasing  of  his  anxiety  about  his 
financial  position  comforted  him   greatly. 

The  next  time  she  came  and  sat  by  his  bed,  a  vision 
of  fresh  summer  laces  and  chiffons,  he  determined  to 
make  the  position  clear  to  her. 

She  always  bent  and  kissed  him  with  airy  grace,  then 
sat  down  at  a  discreet  distance.  She  felt  he  was  not 
overanxious  to  caress  her,  and  preferred  that  the  ren- 
dering of  this  impossible  should  come  from  her  side. 

258 


HALCYONE 

Indeed,  unless  kisses  were  necessary  to  gain  an  end, 
she  did  not  care  for  them  herself  —  stupid,  contempti- 
ble things,  she  thought  them! 

John  Derringham  would  have  touched  the  hearts  of 
most  women  as  he  la}'  there,  but  Cecilia  Cricklander 
had  not  this  tiresome  appendage,  only  the  business 
brain  and  unemotional  sensibilities  of  her  grandfather 
the  pork  butcher.  She  did  realize  that  her  -fiance,  even 
there  with  the  black  silk  handkerchief  wound  round 
his  head  and  his  face  and  hands  deadly  pale  and  fragile- 
looking,  was  still  a  most  arrogant  and  distinguished- 
looking  creature,  and  that  his  eyes,  with  their  pathetic 
shadows  dimming  the  proud  glance  in  them,  were  won- 
derfully attractive.  But  she  was  not  touched  especially 
by  his  weakness.  She  disliked  suffering  and  never 
wanted  to  be  made  aware  of  it. 

John  Derringham  went  straight  into  the  subject 
which  was  uppermost  in  his  thoughts.  He  asked  her 
to  listen  to  him  patiently,  and  stated  his  exact  financial 
situation.  She  must  then  judge  if  she  found  it  worth 
while  to  marry  him ;  he  would  not  deceive  her  about  one 
fraction  of  it. 

She  laughed  lightly  when  he  had  ended  —  and  there 
was  something  which  galled  him  in  her  mirth. 

"  It  is  all  a  ridiculous  nothing,"  she  said.  "  Why, 
I  can  pay  off  the  whole  thing  with  only  the  surplus  I 
invest  every  year  from  my  income!  Your  property  is 
quite  good  security  —  if  I  want  any.  We  shall  prob- 
ably have  to  do  it  in  a  business-like  way ;  your  house 
will  be  mine,  of  course,  but  I  will  make  you  very  com- 

259 


HALCYONE 

f ortable  as  my  guest ! "  and  she  smiled  with  suitable 
playfulness.  "  Let  the  lawyers  talk  over  these  things, 
not  you  and  me  —  you  may  be  sure  mine  will  look  after 
me!" 

John  Derringham  felt  the  blood  tingling  in  his  ears. 
There  was  nothing  to  take  exception  to  in  what  she 
had  said,  but  it  hurt  him  awfully. 

"  Very  well,"  he  answered  wearily,  and  closed  his 
eyes  for  a  moment.  "  If  you  are  satisfied,  that  is  all 
that  need  be  said.  As  things  go  on,  and  I  reach  where 
I  mean  to  get,  I  dare  say  to  spend  money  to  do  the 
thing  beautifully  will  please  you  as  much  as  it  will 
gratify  me.  I  will  give  you  what  I  can  of  the  honors 
and  glories  —  so  shall  we  consider  our  bargain  equal  ?  " 

This  was  not  lover-like,  and  Mrs.  Cricklander  knew  it, 
but  it  was  better  to  have  got  it  all  over.  She  was  well 
aware  that  the  "  honors  and  glories  "  would  compensate 
her  for  the  outlay  of  her  dollars,  but  her  red  mouth  shut 
with  a  snap  as  she  registered  a  thought. 

"  When  I  come  back  it  may  amuse  me  to  make  him 
really  in  love  with  me."  Then,  watching  carefully, 
she  saw  that  some  cloud  of  jar  and  disillusion  had 
settled  upon  her  fiance's  face.  So  with  her  masterly 
skill  she  tried  to  banish  it,  talking  intelligently  upon 
the  political  situation  and  his  prospects.  It  looked  cer- 
tain that  the  Government  would  not  last  beyond  the  ses- 
sion—  and  then  what  would  happen? 

Mr.  Hanbury-Green  had  given  her  a  very  clear  fore- 
cast of  what  the  other  side  meant  to  do,  but  this  she 
did  not  impart  to  John  Derringham. 

260 


HALCYONE 

She  made  one  really  stupid  mistake  as  she  got  up  to 
leave  the  room. 

"  If  you  want  a  few  thousands  now,  John,"  she  said, 
as  she  bent  to  lightly  salute  his  cheek,  "  do  let  me 
know  and  I  will  send  them  to  your  bank.  They  may  be 
useful  for  the  wedding." 

A  dull  flush  mounted  to  the  roots  of  liis  hair,  and  then 
left  him  very  pale. 

He  took  her  hand  and  kissed  it  with  icy  homage. 

"  Thank  you,  no  — "  he  said.  "  You  are  far  too 
good.  I  will  not  take  anything  from  you  until  the  bar- 
gain is  completed." 

Then  their  eyes  met  and  in  his  there  was  a  flash  of 
steel. 

And  when  she  had  gone  from  the  room  he  lay  and 
quivered,  a  sense  of  hideous  humiliation  flooding  his  be- 
ing. 

The  following  day  she  came  in  the  morning.  She 
looked  girlish  in  her  short  tennis  frock  and  was  rippling 
with  smiles.  She  sat  on  the  bed  and  kissed  him  —  and 
then  slipped  her  hand  into  his. 

"  John,  darling,"  she  said  sweetly.  "  People  will  be- 
gin to  talk  if  I  stay  here  at  Wendover  now  that  you 
are  getting  better  —  and  you  would  hate  that  as  much 
as  I  —  so  I  have  settled  to  go  to  Carlsbad  with  Lady 
Maulevrier  —  just  for  three  weeks.  By  that  time  my 
splendid  John  will  be  himself  again  and  we  can  settle 
about  our  wedding — "  then  she  bent  and  kissed  him 
once  more  before  he  could  speak.  "  Arabella  is  going 
to  get  her  mother  to  come  down,"  she  went  on,  "  and 

261 


HALCYONE 

you  will  be  safe  here  with  these  devoted  old  ladies  and 
your  Brome  who  is  plainly  in  love  with  you,  poor 
thing !  "  and  she  laughed  gayly.  "  Say  you  think  it  is 
best,  too,  John,  dearest  ?  " 

"  Whatever  you  wish,"  he  answered  with  some  sudden 
quick  sense  of  relief.  "  I  know  I  am  an  awful  bore 
lying  here,  and  I  shall  not  be  able  to  crawl  to  a  sofa 
even  for  another  week,  these  doctors  say." 

"  You  are  not  a  bore  —  you  are  a  darling,"  she  mur- 
mured, patting  his  hand.  "  And  if  only  I  were  allowed 
to  stay  with  you  —  night  and  day  —  and  nurse  you  like 
Brome,  I  should  be  perfectly  happy.  But  these 
snatched  scraps  —  John,  darling,  I  can't  bear  it!" 

He  wondered  if  she  were  lying.  He  half  thought 
so,  but  she  looked  so  beautiful,  it  enabled  him  to  return 
her  caresses  with  some  tepid  warmth. 

"  It  is  too  sweet  of  you,  Cecilia,"  he  said,  as  he 
kissed  her.  He  had  not  yet  used  one  word  of  intimate 
endearment  —  she  had  never  been  his  darling,  his  sweet 
and  his  own,  like  Halcyone. 

After  she  had  gone  again,  all  details  having  been 
settled  for  her  departure  upon  the  Monday,  he  almost 
felt  that  he  hated  her.  For,  when  she  was  in  this  ap- 
parently loving  mood,  it  seemed  as  if  her  bonds  tight- 
ened round  his  throat  and  strangled  him  to  death. 
"  Octopus  arms "  he  remembered  Cheiron  had  called 
them. 

When  Mrs.  Cricklander  got  back  to  her  own  favorite 
long  seat  out  on  the  terrace,  she  sat  down,  and  settling 


HALCYONE 

the  pillows  under  her  head,  she  let  her  thoughts  ticket 
her  advantages  gained,  in  her  usual  concrete  fashion. 

"  He  is  absolutely  mine,  body  and  soul.  He  does 
not  love  me  —  we  shall  have  the  jolliest  time  seeing 
who  will  win  presently  —  but  I  have  got  the  dollars, 
so  there  is  no  doubt  of  the  result  —  and  what  fun  it  will 
be!  It  does  not  matter  what  I  do  now,  he  cannot 
break  away  from  me.  He  has  let  me  see  plainly  that 
my  money  has  influenced  him  —  and,  although  English- 
men are  fools,  in  his  class  they  are  ridiculously  honor- 
able. I've  got  him !  "  and  she  laughed  aloud.  "  It  is 
all  safe,  he  will  not  break  the  bargain  !  " 

So  she  wrote  an  interesting  note  to  Mr.  Hanbury- 
Green  with  a  pencil  on  one  of  the  blocks  which  she  kept 
lying  about  for  any  sudden  use  —  and  then  strolled  into 
the  house  for  an  envelope. 

And,  as  John  Derringham  lay  in  the  darkened  room 
upstairs,  he  presently  heard  her  joyous  voice  as  she 
played  tennis  with  his  secretary,  and  the  reflection  he 
made  was : 

"  Good  Lord,  how  thankful  I  should  be  that  at  least 
I  do  not  love  her !  " 

Then  he  clenched  his  hands,  and  his  aching  thoughts 
escaped  the  iron  control  under  which  since  his  engage- 
ment he  had  tried  always  to  keep  them,  and  they  went 
back  to  Halcyone.  He  saw  again  with  agonizing  clear- 
ness her  little  tender  face,  when  her  soft,  true  eyes  had 
melted  into  his  as  she  whispered  of  love. 

"  This  is  what  God  means  in  everything."  Well, 
18  263 


H  A  L  C  Y  O  X  E 

God    had    very   little   to   do   with   himself    and    Cecilia 
Cricklander ! 

And  then  he  suddenly  seemed  to  see  the  brutishness 
of  men.  Here  was  he  —  a  refined,  honorable  gentleman 
—  in  a  £ew  weeks  going  to  play  false  to  his  every  instinct, 
and  take  this  woman  whom  he  was  growing  to  despise  — 
and  perhaps  dislike  —  into  his  arms  and  into  his  life, 
in  that  most  intimate  relationship  which,  he  realized 
now,  should  only  be  undertaken  when  passionate  calls 
of  tenderest  love  imperatively  forced  it.  She  would 
have  the  right  to  be  with  him  day  —  and  night.  She 
might  be  the  mother  of  his  children  —  and  he  would 
have  to  watch  her  instincts,  which  he  surely  would  have 
daily  grown  to  loathe,  coming  out  in  them.  And  all 
because  money  had  failed  him  in  his  own  resources  and 
was  necessary  to  his  ambitions,  and  this  necessity, 
working  with  an  appeal  to  his  senses  when  fired  with 
wine,  had  brought  about  the  situation. 

God  Almighty !     How  low  he  felt ! 

And  he  groaned  aloud. 

Then  from  a  small  dispatch  box,  which  he  had  got  his 
servant  to  put  by  his  bed,  he  drew  forth  a  little  gold 
case,  in  which  for  all  these  years  he  had  kept  an  oak 
leaf.  He  had  had  it  made  in  the  enthusiasm  of  his 
youth  when  he  had  returned  to  London  after  Halcyone, 
the  wise-eyed  child,  had  given  it  to  him,  and  it  had  gone 
about  everywhere  with  him  since  as  a  sort  of  fetish. 

It  burnt  his  sight  when  he  looked  at  it  now.  For 
had  he  been  "  good  and  true  "  ?  Alas !  Xo  —  nothing 
but  a  sensual,  ambitious  weakling. 

264, 


CHAPTER  XXVII 

^J^^-^HE  Professor  and  his  protegee  spent  the  whole 
■  *■  j  of  that  July  wandering  in  Brittany  —  going 
^^^^r  from  one  old-world  spot  to  another.  There 
had  not  been  much  opposition  raised  by  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Anderton  to  Halcyone's  accompanying  her  old  master. 
They  themselves  were  going  to  Scotland,  and  there 
Mabel  had  decided  she  would  no  longer  be  kept  in  the 
schoolroom,  and  intended  to  come  forward  as  a  grown- 
up girl  assisting  in  the  hospitalities  of  her  father's 
shooting  lodge.  And  Mrs.  Anderton,  knowing  her  tem- 
per, thought  a  rival  of  any  sort  might  make  difficulties. 
So,  as  far  as  they  were  concerned,  Halcyone  might 
start  at  once.  They  always  left  for  the  north  in  the 
middle  of  the  month,  and  if  the  Professor  wanted  to  get 
away  sooner,  they  did  not  wish  to  interfere  with  his 
arrangements.  Halcyone  must  come  and  pay  them  an- 
other visit  later  on. 

As  for  the  Aunts  La  Sarthe  —  their  heads  appeared 
to  be  completely  turned  by  their  sojourn  at  the  sea- 
side! They  proposed  to  remain  there  all  the  summer, 
and  put  forward  no  objection  to  their  niece's  excursion 
with  Mr.  Carlyon.  The  once  quiet  spot  of  their  youth 
had  developed  into  a  fashionable  Welsh  watering  place, 
and  Miss  Roberta  was  taking  on  a  new  lease  of  health 

265 


HALCYONE 

and  activity  from  the  pleasure  of  seeing  the  crowded 
parade,  while  the  Aunt  Ginevra  allowed  that  the  exhil- 
arating breezes  and  cerulean  waters  were  certainly  most 
refreshing! 

Before  the  Professor  could  leave  for  a  lengthy  trip 
abroad,  it  was  necessary  that  he  should  return  to  the 
orchard  house  for  a  day,  and  Halcyone  accompanied 
him,  leaving  Priscilla  in  London.  Her  mission  was 
to  secure  the  goddess's  head  —  but,  as  there  was  no  one 
at  La  Sarthe  Chase,  she  decided  just  to  go  there  and 
get  her  treasure  and  sleep  the  night  at  Cheiron's. 

It  would  be  an  excursion  of  much  pain  to  her,  to  be 
so  near  to  her  still  loved  lover  and  to  feel  the  cruel 
gulf  between  them,  but  she  must  face  it  if  she  desired 
Aphrodite  to  accompany  them.  The  Professor  sug- 
gested she  might  take  him  through  the  secret  passage 
and  try  with  his  help  to  open  the  heavy  box.  No  such 
opportunity  had  ever  occurred  before  or  was  likely 
to  occur  again,  her  aunts  being  absent  and  even  old 
William  nowhere  about.  It  made  the  chance  one  in  a 
thousand.  So  she  agreed,  and  determined  to  force  her- 
self to  endure  the  pain  which  going  back  would  cause 
her. 

She  was  perfectly  silent  all  the  way  from  London 
to  Upminster  —  and  Mr.  Carlyon  watched  her  furtively. 
He  knew  very  well  what  was  passing  in  her  mind,  and 
admired  the  will  which  suppressed  the  expression  of  it. 
She  grew  very  pale  indeed  in  the  station-fly  when  they 
passed  the  gates  of  Wendover.  It  was  about  half  past 
three  in  the  afternoon  —  and  the  Professor  had  promised 

2ffi 


HALCYONE 

to  come  to  the  archway  opening  of  the  secret  passage 
at  five. 

So  Halcyone  left  him  and  took  her  way  down  the 
garden  and  through  the  little  gate  into  the  park.  It 
seemed  like  revisiting  some  scene  in  a  former  life,  so 
deep  was  the  chasm  which  separated  the  last  time  she 
walked  that  way  from  this  day.  She  passed  the  oak 
tree  without  stopping.  She  would  not  give  way  to  any 
weakness  or  the  grief  which  threatened  to  overwhelm 
her.  She  kept  her  mind  steadily  fixed  upon  the  object 
she  had  in  view,  with  a  power  of  concentration  which 
only  those  who  live  in  solitude  can  ever  attain  to. 

Aphrodite  was  there  still  in  the  bag  lying  on  top 
of  the  heavy  iron-bound  box  in  the  secret  passage,  and 
she  carried  her  out  into  the  sunlight  and  once  more 
took  the  wrappings  from  the  perfect  face. 

"  You  are  coming  with  us,  sweet  friend,"  she  whis- 
pered, and  gazed  long  into  the  goddess's  eyes.  What 
she  saw  there  gave  her  comfort. 

"  Yes,  I  know,"  she  went  on  gently.  "  I  did  say  that, 
whatever  came,  I  would  understand  that  it  was  life  — 
And  I  do  —  and  I  know  this  evil  pain  is  only  for  the  time 
—  and  so  I  will  not  admit  its  power.  I  will  wait  and 
some  day  joy  will  return  to  me,  like  the  swallow  from 
the  south.     Mother,  I  will  grieve  not." 

And  all  the  softest  summer  zephyrs  seemed  to  caress 
her  in  answer,  and  there  she  sat  silent  and  absorbed, 
looking  out  to  the  blue  hills  for  more  than  an  hour. 

Then  she-  saw  Cheiron  advancing  up  the  beech  ave- 
nue, and  covering  up  Aphrodite  she  went  to  meet  him. 

267 


HALCYONE 

They  came  back  to  the  second  terrace  and  started 
upon  their  quest. 

Mr.  Carlyon  had  the  greatest  difficulty  in  keeping 
his  old  head  bent  to  get  through  the  very  low  part  of 
the  dark  arched  place,  and  he  held  Haley  one's  hand. 
But  at  last  they  emerged  into  the  one  light  spot  and 
there  saw  the  breastplate  and  the  box.  But  at  first 
it  seemed  as  if  they  could  not  lift  it ;  it  had  fallen  with 
the  lock  downward.  Cheiron,  although  a  most  robust 
old  man,  had  passed  his  seventieth  year,  and  the 
thing  was  of  extreme  heaviness.  But  at  last  they 
pushed  and  pulled  and  got  it  upright,  and  finally, 
with  tremendous  exertions  with  a  chisel  Mr.  Carl- 
yon had  brought,  managed  to  break  open  the  ancient 
lock. 

It  gave  with  a  sudden  snap,  and  in  breathless  excite- 
ment they  raised  the  lid. 

Inside  was  another  case  of  wood.  This  also  was 
locked,  but  at  its  side  lay  an  old  key.  The  Professor, 
as  well  as  his  chisel,  had  prudently  brought  a  small 
bottle  of  oil,  and  eventually  was  able  to  make  the  key 
turn  in  the  lock,  and  they  found  that  the  box  was  in  two 
compartments,  one  entirely  filled  with  gold  pieces,  and  the 
other  containing  some  smaller  heavy  object  enwound 
with  silk. 

They  lifted  it  out  and  carried  it  to  the  light,  and 
then  with  great  excitement  they  unrolled  the  coverings. 
It  proved  to  be  a  gold-and-jeweled  crucifix  and  beneath 
it  lay  a  parchment  with  a  seal. 

Leaving  the  pieces  of  gold  in  the  box,  they  carried 

268 


HALCYONE 

the  crucifix  and  the  parchment  out  on  to  the  terrace, 
and  then  the  Professor  adjusted  his  strongest  spectacles 
and  prepared  to  read  what  he  could,  while  Halcyone  ex- 
amined the  beautiful  thing. 

The  writing  was  still  fairly  dark  and  the  words  were 
in  Latin.  It  stated,  so  the  Professor  read,  that  the 
money  and  the  crucifix  were  the  property  of  Timothy 
La  Sarthe,  Gentleman  to  Queen  Henrietta  Maria,  and 
that,  should  aught  befall  him  in  his  flight  to  France 
upon  secret  business  for  Her  Majesty,  the  gold  and 
the  crucifix  belonged  to  whichever  of  his  descendants 
should  find  it  —  or  it  should  be  handed  to ;  that  all  oth- 
ers were  cursed  who  should  touch  it,  and  that  it  would 
bring  the  owner  fortune,  as  it  was  the  work  of  one 
Benvenuto  Cellini,  an  artist  of  great  renown  in  Flor- 
ence before  his  day,  and  therefore  of  great  value. 
The  quaintly  phrased  deed  added  that  if  it  were  taken 
to  one  Reuben  Zana,  a  Jew  in  the  Jewry  at  the  sign 
of  the  Golden  Horn,  he  would  dispose  of  it  for  a  large 
sum  to  the  French  king.  The  crucifix  had  been 
brought  from  Florence  in  the  doAver  of  his  wife  Donna 
Vittoria  Tornabuoni,  now  dead.  If  his  son  Timothy 
should  secure  it,  he  was  advised  not  to  keep  it,  as  its 
possession  brought  trouble  to  the  family. 

"  Then  it  is  legally  ours  and  not  treasure-trove," 
said  Halcyone.  "  Oh,  how  good !  It  will  make  the 
Aunts  La  Sarthe  quite  rich  perhaps,  and  look  how  beau- 
tiful it  is,  the  jeweled  thing." 

They  examined  it  minutely.  It  was  a  masterpiece 
of  that  great  craftsman  and  artist  and  of  untold  value. 

269 


HALCYONE 

Cheiron  silently  thrilled  with  the  delight  of  it  —  but 
Haleyone  spoke. 

"  I  am  glad  Ancestor  Timothy  suggested  selling  it," 
she  said.  "  I  would  never  keep  a  crucifix,  the  emblem 
of  sorrow  and  pain.  For  me,  Christ  is  always  glorified 
and  happy  in  heaven.  Now  what  must  we  do,  Master? 
Must  we  at  once  tell  the  aunts?  But  I  will  not  con- 
sent to  anyone  knowing  of  this  staircase.  That  would 
destroy  something  which  I  could  never  recover.  We 
must  pretend  we  have  found  it  in  the  long  gallery; 
there  is  a  recess  in  the  paneling  which  no  one  knows  of 
but  I,  and  there  we  can  put  it  and  find  it  again.  It 
will  be  quite  safe.  Shall  we  leave  it  there,  Cheiron, 
until  we  come  back  from  abroad?  How  much  do  you 
think  it  is  worth?  " 

"  Anything  up  to  fifty  thousand  pounds  perhaps  to 
a  collector,"  the  Professor  said,  "  since  it  is  an  original 
and  unique.  Look  at  the  splendid  rubies  and  emeralds 
and  these  two  big  diamonds  at  the  top,  and  there  is 
so  little  of  Benvenuto's  work  left  that  is  authentic." 

"  That  is  an  unusual  sum  of  money,  is  it  not  ?  "  Hal- 
eyone asked.  "  That  would  surely  give  them  anything 
they  want  for  their  lives ;  perhaps  we  ought  not  to  keep 
them  waiting." 

And  so  after  much  talk  it  was  arranged  that  Hal- 
eyone should  make  several  journeys,  taking  the  gold 
to  the  long  gallery  and  then  the  crucifix;  and  then  the 
box  could  be  lifted  and  repacked  again  there.  And, 
when  she  had  it  all  stowed  away  carefully  in  the  re- 
cess of  the  paneling,  she  and  Cheiron  should  go  openly 

270 


HALCYONE 

to  the  back  door  and  let  the  caretaker  know  they  had 
arrived,  and  go  into  the  house  —  and  there  ostensibly 
find  the  treasure.  Then  they  would  write  to  the  Misses 
La  Sarthe  about  their  discovery,  and  take  the  box  to 
Applewood  and  deposit  it  in  the  bank  until  their  re- 
turn. 

All  this  took  a  long  time  but  was  duly  carried  out, 
and  about  eight  o'clock  Halcyone  and  the  Professor 
were  able  to  go  back,  carrying  the  crucifix  with  them, 
to  keep  it  safe  for  the  night  and  then  to  put  it  back 
with  the  gold  and  the  parchment,  before  they  took  the 
box  to  the  bank  on  the  morrow. 

"  It  may  be  worth  more  still  and  there  is  a  good 
deal  of  gold,"  the  Professor  said,  "  and  their  coins  would 
be  worth  more  now.  You  will  be  quite  a  little  heiress 
some  day,  dear  child." 

"  I  do  not  care  the  least  about  money,  Cheiron,"  she 
said,  "  but  I  shall  be  so  glad  for  the  aunts." 

And  when  eventually  the  old  ladies  received  the  news 
of  their  fortune  there  was  much  rejoicing,  and  by  fol- 
lowing Cheiron's  advice  they  were  not  defrauded  and 
might  look  forward  to  a  most  comfortable  end  to  their 
lives.  Miss  Roberta  even  dreamed  of  a  villa  at  the  sea- 
side and  a  visit  to  London  Town! 

But  meanwhile  the  Professor  and  Kalcyone  went  back 
to  London  and  on  the  Saturday  left  for  Dieppe. 

London,  perhaps  from  her  numbed  state  of  misery, 
had  said  nothing  to  Halcyone.  It  remained  in  her  mem- 
ory as  a  nightmare,  the  scene  of  the  confirmation  of 
her  winter  of  the  soul.     Its  inhabitants   were   ghosts, 

271 


HALCYONE 

the  young  men  —  jolly,  hearty,  young  fellows  from 
the  Stock  Exchange,  and  rising  Radical  politicians 
whom  she  had  met  —  went  from  her  record  of  things 
as  so  many  shadows. 

The  vast  buildings  seemed  as  prisons,  the  rush  and 
flurry  as  worrying  storms,  and  even  the  parks  as  only 
feeble  reminders  of  her  dear  La  Sarthe  Chase. 

Nothing  had  made  the  least  real  impression  upon  her 
except  Kensington  Gardens,  and  they  to  the  end  of  her 
life  would  probably  be  only  a  reminder  of  pain. 

But  her  first  view  of  the  sea ! 

That  was  something  revivifying ! 

Her  memory  of  the  one  occasion  when  she  had  gone 
to  Lowestoft  with  her  mother  was  too  dim  to  be  any- 
thing of  a  reality,  and,  when  they  got  to  Newhaven, 
the  Professor  and  Priscilla  and  she,  with  a  brisk  sum- 
mer wind  blowing  the  green-blue  water  into  crested  wave- 
lets, the  first  cry  of  life  and  joy  escaped  her  and  glad- 
dened Cheiron's  heart. 

How  wonderful  the  voyage  was !  She  took  in  every 
smallest  change  in  the  tones  of  the  sky  —  she  watched 
the  waves  from  the  forepart  of  the  bridge,  and  some  new 
essence  of  life  and  the  certainty  that  her  night  forces 
would  never  desert  her  made  themselves  felt  and  cheered 
her. 

Of  John  Derringham  she  thought  constantly.  He  was 
not  buried  in  that  outer  circle  of  oblivion  from  which 
the  thoughts  unconsciously  shy  —  as  we  bury  our 
dead,  their  going  so  shrouded  in  pain  that  we  long 
to  blot  out  the  memory  of  them.     John  Derringham 

272 


HALC YONE 

was  always  with  her.  She  prayed  for  his  welfare  with 
the  fervor  and  purity  of  her  sweet  soul.  He  was  her 
spirit  lover  still.  He  could  never  really  belong  to  any 
other  woman,  she  knew.  And  as  the  days  went  by  a 
fresh  beauty  grew  in  her  pale  face.  The  night  sky 
itself  seemed  to  be  melted  in  her  true  eyes  with  the  es- 
sence of  all  its  stars. 

Cheiron  often  wondered  at  her.  There  was  never  a 
word  or  allusion  to  the  past.  She  was  extremely  quiet, 
and  sometimes  the  droop  of  her  graceful  head  and  the 
sad  curves  of  her  tender  lips  would  make  the  kind  old 
cynic's  heart  ache.  But  she  was  always  cheerful,  tak- 
ing unfeigned  interest  in  the  country  and  the  people, 
delighting  in  the  simple  faith  of  the  peasants  and  the 
glory  of  some  of  the  old  cathedrals. 

And  Aphrodite  traveled  everywhere  with  them.  A 
special  case  had  been  made  for  her  —  and  Halcyone 
often  took  her  out  to  keep  them  company  in  the  late 
evenings  or  when  a  rare  rain  storm  kept  them  indoors. 

Mr.  Carlyon  had  not  written  to  John  Derringham 
since  his  engagement  had  been  announced.  He  wished 
all  connection  with  his  former  pupil  to  be  broken  off. 
He  had  no  mercy  for  his  action,  he  could  not  even  use 
his  customary  lenient  common  sense  towards  the  failings 
of  mankind. 

John  Derringham  had  made  his  peerless  one  suffer 
—  and  his  name  was  anathema.  As  far  as  Cheiron  was 
concerned  he  was  wiped  off  the  list  of  beings  who 
count. 

Halcyone's  delicate  sense  of  obligation  had  been  put 

273 


HALCYONE 

at  ease  by  her  stepfather.  He  had  made  over  to  her 
a  few  hundreds  a  year  which  he  said  had  belonged  to 
her  mother  —  the  simple  creature  was  too  ignorant  of  all 
business  to  be  aware  whether  this  was  or  was  not  the 
case.  She  had  grown  to  have  a  certain  liking  for  James 
Anderton.  There  was  a  hard,  level-headed,  shrewd  hon- 
esty about  him,  keen  to  drive  a  bargain  —  even  the 
one  about  her  mother  to  which  Priscilla  had  alluded 
and  to  which  they  had  never  made  any  further  refer- 
ence —  but,  when  once  he  had  gained  his  point,  he  was 
generous  and  kind-hearted. 

He  could  not  help  it  that  he  was  not  a  gentleman,  Hal- 
cyone  thought,  and  he  did  his  best  for  everybody  accord- 
ing to  his  lights. 

Her  few  hundreds  a  year  seemed  untold  wealth  to  her 
who  had  never  had  even  a  few  sixpences  for  pocket 
money !  But  there  was  always  some  instinctive  dislike 
for  the  thing  itself.  It  remained  to  her  a  rather  un- 
pleasant medium  for  securing  the  necessities  of  life, 
though  she  was  glad  she  now  possessed  enough  not  to  be 
a  burden  upon  her  aunts,  and  could  hand  what  was  nec- 
essary for  her  trip  over  to  the  Professor. 

They  wanted  to  get  into  Italy  as  soon  as  it  should 
be  cool  enough.  August  saw  them  in  an  out-of-the- 
way  village  in  Switzerland. 

And  the  mountains  caused  Halcyone  a  yet  deeper 
emotion  than  the  sea  had  done.  Nature  here  talked  to 
her  in  a  voice  of  supreme  grandeur,  and  bade  her  never 
to  be  cast  down  but  to  go  on  bearing  her  winter  with 
heroic  calm. 

274 


HALCYONE 

She  often  stayed  out  the  entire  night  and  watched 
the  stars  fade  and  the  dawn  come  —  Phoebus  with  his 
sun  chariot!  Somehow  Switzerland,  although  it  was 
not  at  all  the  actual  background,  seemed  to  bring  to 
her  the  atmosphere  of  her  "  Heroes."  The  lower  hill 
near  their  village  could  certainly  be  Pelion,  and  one  day 
she  felt  she  had  discovered  Cheiron's  cave.  This  was 
a  joy  —  and  that  night,  when  it  rained  and  she  and  the 
Professor  sat  before  their  wood  fire  in  the  little  inn  par- 
lor, with  Aphrodite  tying  near  them  in  her  silken  folds, 
she  coaxed  her  old  master  into  telling  her  those  moving 
tales  of  old. 

"  You  are  indeed  Cheiron,  Master,"  she  said  —  and 
then  her  eyes  widened  and  she  looked  into  the  glowing 
ashes.  "  And  you  have  one  pupil,  who,  like  Heracles  in 
his  fight  with  the  Centaurs,  has  accidental!}'  wounded 
you.  But  I  want  you  not  to  let  the  poison  of  the  arrow 
grow  in  your  blood ;  the  wound  is  not  incurable  as  his 
was.  Master,  why  do  you  never  speak  to  me  now  of  Mr. 
Dcrringham?  " 

Cheiron  frowned.  One  of  his  eyebrows  had  grown 
in  later  years  at  least  an  inch  long  and  seemed  to  bristle 
ready  for  battle  when  he  was  angry. 

"  I  think  he  has  behaved  as  no  gentleman  should," 
he  growled,  "  and  I  would  rather  not  mention  him." 

"  You  know  of  things  perhaps  with  which  I  am  not 
acquainted,"  said  Halcyone,  "  but  from  my  point  of 
view,  there  is  nothing  to  judge  him  for.  Whatever  he 
may  have  done  in  becoming  engaged  to  marry  this  lady 
—  because  she  is  rich  —  we  do  not  know  the  forces  that 

275 


H  A  L  C  Y  O  N  E 

were  compelling  him.  It  hurts  me,  Cheiron,  that  you 
take  so  stern  a  view  —  it  hurts  me,  Master." 

Mr.  Carlvon  put  out  his  hand  and  stroked  her 
soft  hair  as  she  sat  there  on  a  low  stool  looking  up  at 
him. 

"  Oh,  my  dear,"  he  said,  and  could  articulate  no 
more  because  a  lump  grew  in  his  throat. 

'*  Everything  is  so  simple  when  we  know  of  it,"  she 
went  on,  "  but  everj-one  has  not  had  the  fortune  to  learn 
nature  and  the  forces  which  we  must  encourage  or  guard 
against.  And  Mr.  Derringham,  who  had  to  mix  with 
the  world,  ran  many  dangers  which  could  not  come  to 
you  and  me  at  La  Sarthe  Chase.  Ah,  Cheiron !  Even 
you  do  not  know  of  the  ugly  things  which  creep  away 
out  of  sight  in  the  night  —  my  night  that  I  love !  And 
they  could  sting  one  if  one  did  not  know  where  to  put 
one's  feet.  And  so  it  must  be  with  him  —  he  did  not 
always  see  where  just  to  put  his  feet,  so  we  must  not 
judge  him,  must  we?"  she  pleaded. 

"  Not  if  you  do  not  wish,"  Mr.  Carlyon  blurted  out. 
And  then  he  began  to  puff  wreaths  of  smoke  from  his 
long  old  pipe. 

"  Indeed,  I  do  not  wish,  Cheiron,"  she  said.  "  Per- 
haps he  is  very  unhappy  now  —  we  do  not  know  —  so 
we  should  only  send  him  good  thoughts  to  cheer  him. 
I  dream  of  him  often,"  she  went  on  in  a  far-off  voice, 
as  though  she  had  almost  forgotten  the  Professor's  pres- 
ence, "  and  he  cries  to  me  in  pain.'  And  I  could  not 
bear  it  that  you  should  be  thinking  badly  of  him,  and 
so  I  had  to  speak  because  thoughts  can  help  or  injure 

276 


HALCYONE 

people  —  and  now  he  wants  all  the  gentle  currents  we 
can  send  him  to  take  him  through  this  time." 

The  Professor  coughed  violently ;  his  spectacles  had 
grown  dim. 

Then  Halcyone  rubbed  her  soft  cheek  against  his  old 
withered  hand. 

"  You  knew  it,  of  course,  Master,"  she  said  very 
softly.  "  I  loved  him  always  and  I  love  him  still  —  and, 
if  I  have  forgiven  any  hurt  which  he  brought  me,  surely 
it  need  not  stand  against  him  with  you.  To-night  — 
oh,  he  is  suffering  so!  I  cannot  bear  that  there  should 
be  one  shadow  going  to  him  that  I  can  take  away. 
Cheiron,  promise  me  you  won't  think  hardly  ever  any 
more  —  promise  me,  Cheiron,  dear  1 " 

The  Professor's  voice  was  almost  the  growl  of  a  bear 
—  but  Halcyone  knew  he  meant  to  acquiesce. 

"  Cheiron,"  she  whispered,  while  she  caressed  his  stiff 
fingers,  "  the  winter  of  our  souls  is  almost  past.  I  feel 
and  know  the  spring  is  near  at  hand." 

"  I  hope  to  God  it  is,"  Mr.  Carlyon  said,  very  low. 

Next  day  they  moved  on  into  Italy,  crossing  the 
frontier  and  stopping  the  night  at  Turin  where  they 
proposed  to  hire  a  motor.  From  thence  they  intended 
to  get  down  to  Genoa  to  continue  their  pilgrimage.  It 
was  not  such  an  easy  matter,  in  those  few  years  ago,  as 
it  is  now  to  hire  a  motor,  but  one  was  promised  to  them 
at  last  —  and  off  they  started.  Halcyone  took  the 
greatest  interest  in  everything  in  that  quaint  and  grand 
old  town.  Her  keen  judgment  and  that  faculty  she  pos- 
sessed of  always   seeing  everything   from   the   simplest 

277 


HALCYONE 

standpoint   of  truth   made  her  an  ideal   companion   to 
wander  with  on  this  journey  of  cultured  ease. 

"  How  strong  a  place  this  seems,  Cheiron,"  she  said, 
after  two  days  of  their  sight-seeing.  "  All  the  spirits 
at  the  zenith  of  Genoa's  greatness  were  strong  —  noth- 
ing weak  or  ascetic.  They  must  have  been  filled  with 
gratitude  to  God  for  giving  them  this  beautiful  life, 
those  old  patrons  of  decoration.  There  is  nothing 
cheap  or  hurried;  it  is  all  an  appreciation  of  the  mag- 
nificence due  to  their  noble  station  and  their  pride  of 
race.  For  the  Guelphist  of  them  seems  to  have  been 
an  aristocrat  and  an  autocrat  in  his  personal  menage. 
Is  it  not  so,  Master?  " 

"  I  dare  say,"  agreed  Cheiron.  He  was  watching 
with  deep  interest  for  her  verdict  upon  things. 

"  It  gives  me  the  impression  of  solid  riches,"  she  went 
on,  "  the  encouragement  of  looms  of  costly  stuffs,  the 
encouragement  for  workers  in  marble,  in  bronze,  in 
frescoes,  all  the  material  gorgeous,  tangible  pleasures 
of  sight  and  touch.  It  is  not  poetic ;  it  inspires  admira- 
tion for  great  deeds,  victorious  navies,  triumphs  —  ban- 
quets —  I  have  no  sense  of  music  here  except  the  music 
of  feasting.  I  have  no  sense  of  poetry  except  of  odes 
to  famous  admirals  or  party  leaders,  and  yet  it  is  a  great 
joy  in  its  way  and  a  noble  monument  to  the  proud  man- 
hood of  the  past."  And  she  looked  down  from  the  bal- 
cony of  the  Palazzo  Reale,  where  they  were  standing, 
into  the  town  below. 

Her  thoughts  had  gone  as  ever  to  the  man  she  loved. 
He  had  this  haughty   spirit  —  he   could  have  lived  in 

278 


HALCYONE 

those  days  —  and  she  saw  him  a  Doria,  a  Brignole-Salc 
or  a  Pallavicini,  gorgeous,  masterful  and  magnificent. 
England  in  the  present  day  was  surely  a  supplice  for 
such  an  arrogant  spirit  as  that  of  John  Derringham. 

The  prosperous  mercantile  part  of  Genoa  said  noth- 
ing to  her  —  she  wanted  always  to  wander  where  she 
could  weave  romances  into  the  things  round.  She  had 
never  seen  any  fine  pictures  before.  The  Anderton 
family  were  not  lovers  of  art  and,  while  in  London,  Hal- 
cyone  had  been  too  unhappy  to  care  or  even  ask  to  be 
taken  to  galleries  —  and  Cheiron  had  not  suggested  do- 
ing so ;  he  was  a  good  deal  occupied  himself.  But  now 
it  was  a  great  pleasure  to  him  to  watch  and  see  what 
impression  they  would  make  upon  a  perfectly  fresh  eye. 
The  immense  cultivation  of  her  mind  would  guide  her 
taste  probably  —  but  it  would  be  an  interesting  experi- 
ment. 

She  stopped  instantly  in  front  of  a  Van  Dyck,  but 
she  did  not  speak.  In  fact  she  made  no  observations  at 
all  about  the  pictures  until  they  were  back  in  their  hotel. 
It  was  still  very  hot,  although  September  had  come,  and 
they  had  their  dinner  upon  an  open  terrace. 

And  then  her  thoughts  came  out. 

"  I  like  the  Guido  ltenis,  Cheiron,"  she  said ;  "  hi9 
Magdalen  in  the  Reale  Palazzo  is  exquisite  —  she  is  pure 
and  good.  But  I  do  not  like  the  saints  and  martyrs  in 
the  throes  of  their  agony,  they  say  nothing  to  me,  I 
have  no  sympathy  for  them.  I  adore  the  Madonna  and 
the  Child ;  they  touch  me  —  here,"  and  she  laid  her  hand 
upon  her  heart.  "  The  Sassoferarto  Virgin  in  the 
19  279 


HALCYONE 

Reale  Palazzo  is  like  Miss  Lutworth,  she  is  full  of  kind- 
ness and  youth.  The  early  masters'  works,  which  are 
badly  drawn  and  beautifully  colored,  I  have  to  take 
apart  —  and  it  is  unsatisfying.  Because,  while  I  am 
trying  not  to  see  the  wrong  shape,  I  have  only  half  my 
faculties  to  appreciate  the  exquisite  colors,  and  so  a 
third  influence  has  to  come  in  —  the  meaning  of  the  ar- 
tist who  painted  them  and  perhaps  put  into  them  his  soul. 
But  that  is  altruistic  —  I  could  as  well  admire  some- 
thing of  very  bad  art  for  the  same  reason.  For  me  a 
picture  should  satisfy  each  of  these  points  of  view  to 
be  perfect  and  lift  me  into  heights.  That  is  why  per- 
haps I  shall  prefer  sculpture  on  the  whole,  when  I  shall 
have  seen  it,  to  painting." 

And  Mr.  Carlyon  felt  that,  learned  in  art  and  old  as 
he  was,  Halcyone  might  give  him  a  new  point  of  view. 

Next  day  they  left  for  Pisa. 


CHAPTER  XXVIII 

Vw^HEN  Arabella  Clinker  and  her  mother  were  set- 
W  J  tied  together  at  Wendover,  a  strange  peace 
\M*r  seemed  to  fall  upon  the  place.  John  Derring- 
ham  was  conscious  of  it  upstairs  as  he  lay  in  his  Louis 
XV  bed.  By  the  time  he  was  allowed  to  be  carried  to  a 
sofa  in  the  sitting-room  which  had  been  arranged  for 
him,  July  had  well  set  in. 

He  had  parted  from  his  Cecilia  with  suitable  things 
said  upon  either  side.  Even  in  his  misery  and  abase- 
ment, John  Derringham  was  too  assured  a  spirit  and 
too  much  a  man  of  the  world  to  have  any  hesitation  or 
awkwardness.  Mrs.  Cricklander  had  been  all  that  was 
sympathetic.  She  looked  superbly  full  of  vigor  and 
the  joy  of  life  as  she  came  to  say  farewell. 

"  John,  darling,"  she  purred,  "  you  will  do  everything 
you  are  told  to  by  the  doctors  while  I  am  away,  won't 
you  ?  "  and  she  caressed  his  forehead  with  her  soft  hand. 
"  So  that  I  may  not  have  to  worry  as  dreadfully  as  I 
have  been  doing,  when  I  come  back.  It  has  made  me 
quite  ill  —  that  is  why  I  must  go  to  Carlsbad.  You  will 
be  good  now ;  so  that  I  may  find  you  as  strong  and  hand- 
some as  ever  on  my  return."  Then  she  bent  and  kissed 
him. 

He  promised  faithfully,  and  she  never  saw  the  whim- 

281 


HALCYONE 

steal  gleam  in  his  eyes,  because  for  the  moment  having 
gained  her  end  her  faculties  had  resumed  their  normal 
condition,  which  was  not  one  of  superlative  sensitive- 
ness. Like  everything  else  in  her  utilitarian  equipment, 
fine  perceptions  were  only  assumed  when  the  magnitude 
of  the  goal  in  view  demanded  their  presence.  And  even 
then  they  merely  went  as  far  as  sentinels  to  warn  or 
encourage  her  in  the  progress  of  her  aims,  never  wast- 
ing themselves  upon  irrelevant  objects. 

When  her  scented  presence  had  left  the  room,  John 
Derringham  clasped  his  hands  behind  his  head,  and,  be- 
fore he  was  aware  of  it,  his  lips  had  murmured  "  Thank 
God!" 

And  then  Nemesis  fell  upon  him  —  his  schoolboy  sen- 
sation of  recreation-time  at  hand  left  him,  and  a  blank 
sense  of  failure  and  hopeless  bondage  took  its  place. 

Surely  he  had  bartered  his  soul  for  a  very  inadequate 
mess  of  pottage. 

And  where  would  he  sink  to  under  this  scorpion  whip  ? 
Where  would  go  all  his  fine  aspirations  which,  even  in 
spite  of  all  the  juggling  of  political  life,  still  lived  in 
his  aims.     Halcyone  would  have  understood. 

"  Oh !  my  love !  "  he  cried.     "  My  tender  love !  " 

Then  that  part  of  him  which  was  strong  reasserted  it- 
self. He  would  not  give  way  to  this  repining,  the  thing 
was  done  and  he  must  make  the  best  of  it.  He  asked 
for  some  volumes  from  the  library.  He  would  read, 
and  he  sent  the  faithful  and  adoring  Brome  to  request 
Miss  Clinker  to  send  him  up  the  third  and  fourth  vol- 
ume of  "  The  Decline  and  Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire." 

282 


HALCYONE 

He  often  turned  to  Gibbon  when  he  was  at  war  with 
things.  The  perfect  balance  of  the  English  soothed 
him  —  and  he  felt  he  would  read  of  Julian,  for  whom  in 
his  heart  he  felt  a  sympathy. 

Arabella  brought  the  volumes  herself,  and  placed 
them  on  his  table,  and  then  went  to  settle  some  roses  in 
a  vase  before  she  left  the  room. 

A  thin  slip  of  paper  fell  out  of  one  of  the  books  as 
he  opened  it,  and  he  read  it  absently  while  he  turned 
the  pages. 

On  the  top  was  a  date  in  pencil,  and  in  a  methodical 
fashion  there  was  written  in  red  ink : 

"  Notes  for  the  instruction  of  M.  E.,"  and  then  un- 
derneath, "  Subjects  to  be  talked  of  at  dinner  to-night 
—  Was  there  cause  for  Julian's  apostasy?  What  ap- 
pealed most  to  Julian  in  the  old  religions  —  etc.,  etc." 

For  a  second  the  words  conveyed  no  meaning  to  his 
brain,  and  for  something  to  say,  he  said  aloud  to  Ara- 
bella :  "  This  is  your  writing,  I  think,  Miss  Clinker.  I 
see  you  have  a  taste  for  our  friend  Gibbon,  too,"  and 
then,  observing  the  troubled  confusion  of  Arabella's 
honest  face,  a  sudden  flash  came  over  him  of  memory. 
He  recollected  distinctly  that  upon  the  Sunday  before 
his  accident,  they  had  talked  at  lunch  of  Julian  the 
Apostate,  and  Mrs.  Cricklander  had  turned  the  conver- 
sation, and  then  had  referred  to  the  subject  again  at 
dinner  with  an  astonishing  array  of  facts,  surprising  him 
by  her  erudition. 

He  looked  down  at  the  slip  again  —  yes,  the  date  was 
right,  and  the  red-ink  heading  was  evidently  a  stereo- 

283 


HALCYONE 

typed  one;  probably  Arabella  kept  a  supply  of  these 
papers  ready,  being  a  methodical  creature.  And  the 
questions!  —  were  they  for  her  own  education?  But 
no  —  Arabella  was  a  cultivated  person  and  would  not 
require  such  things,  and,  on  that  particular  Sunday,  had 
never  opened  the  door  of  her  lips  at  either  meal. 

"  She  prompts  Cecilia,"  in  a  flash  he  thought,  with 
a  wild  sense  of  bitter  mirth.  "  No  wonder  she  can  reel 
off  statistics  as  she  does.  '  Subjects  to  be  talked  of  at 
dinner  ' —  forsooth !  " 

And  Arabella  stood  there,  her  kind  plain  face  crim- 
son, and  her  brown  eyes  blinking  pitifully  behind  her 
glasses. 

She  was  too  fine  to  say  anything,  it  would  make  the 
situation  impossibly  difficult  if  she  invented  an  explana- 
tion. So  she  just  blinked  —  and  finally,  after  placing 
the  fresh  flowers  by  Mr.  Derringham's  bed,  she  left  the 
room  by  the  door  beyond. 

When  she  had  gone  it  was  as  if  a  curtain  were  raised 
upon  John  Derringham's  understanding.  Countless  cir- 
cumstances came  back  to  him  when  his  fiancee's  appar- 
ent learning  had  aroused  his  admiration,  and  with  a 
twinge  he  remembered  Cheiron's  maliciously  amused 
eyes  which  had  met  his  during  her  visit  to  the  orchard 
house,  when  she  had  become  a  little  at  sea  in  some  of 
her  conversation.  The  whole  thing  then  was  a  colossal 
bluff  —  Arabella  was  the  brain !  Arabella  was  the 
erudite,  cultured  person  and  his  admirable  Cecilia  played 
the  role  of  extremely  clever  parrot!  He  laughed 
with  bitter  cynical  merriment  until  he  shook  in  his  bed. 

284 


HALCYONE 

And  he,  poor  fool,  had  been  taken  in  by  it  all  —  he 
and  a  number  of  others.  He  was  in  company  at  all 
events!  Then  he  saw  another  aspect,  and  almost  ad- 
mired the  woman  for  her  audacity.  What  nerve  to  play 
such  a  game,  and  so  successfully!     The  determination 

—  the  application  it  required  —  and  the  force  of  char- 
acter ! 

But  the  gall  of  it  when  she  should  be  his  wife !  He 
saw  pictures  of  himself  trembling  with  apprehension  at 
some  important  function  in  case  mistakes  should  occur. 
He  would  have  to  play  the  part  of  Arabella,  and  write 
out  the  notes  for  the  subjects  to  be  "  talked  of  at  din- 
ner ! " 

He  lay  there,  and  groaned  with  rage  and  disgust. 

He  could  not  —  he  would  not  go  through  with 
it! 

But  next  day  the  irony  of  fate  fell  upon  him  with 
heavy  hand.  He  received  the  news  that  Joseph  Scroope, 
his  maternal  uncle,  was  dead,  not  having  produced  an 
heir,  so  he  knew  that  he  would  inherit  a  comfortable 
fortune  from  him. 

The  noose  had,  indeed,  tightened  round  his  neck, — 
he  could  not  now  release  himself  from  his  engagement 
to  Cecilia  Cricklander.  Some  instincts  of  a  gentleman 
still  remained  with  him  in  full  measure.  The  hideous, 
hideous  mockery  of  it  all.  If  he  had  waited,  he  would 
now  have  been  free  to  seek  his  darling,  his  pure  star, 
Halcyone,  in  all  honor.  He  could  have  taken  her  dear, 
tender  hand,  and  led  her  proudly  to  the  seat  by  his  side 

—  and  crowned  her  with  whatever  laurels  her  sweet  spirit 

285 


HALCYONE 

would  have  inspired  him  to  gain.  And  it  was  all  too 
late  !  too  late  ! 

He  reviewed  the  whole  chain  of  events,  and  perceived 
how  it  had  been  his  own  doing  —  what  had  happened  in 
each  step  —  and  tins  knowledge  added  to  the  bitterness 
of  his  pain.  It  was  from  now  onward  that  his  nights 
were  often  agony.  Every  movement,  every  word  of 
Hulcyone  came  back  to  him,  from  the  old  days  of  long 
ago  when  she  had  given  him  the  oak  leaf,  to  the  moment 
of  her  looking  into  his  eyes,  with  all  her  soul  in  hers, 
as  she  had  answered  his  passionate  question.  "  Afraid? 
How  should  I  be  afraid  —  since  you  are  my  lord  and 
I  am  your  love?     Do  not  we  belong  to  one  another?  " 

And  in  spite  of  the  peace  Mrs.  Cricklander's  absence 
caused  in  the  atmosphere,  John  Derringham  grew  more 
unutterably  wretched  as  time  went  on. 

His  cup  seemed  to  be  rilling  from  all  sides.  The 
Government  was  going  out  in  disaster,  and,  instead  of 
being  able  to  stand  by  his  colleagues  and  fight,  and  per- 
haps avert  catastrophe  by  his  brilliant  speeches  and 
biting  wit,  he  was  chained  like  a  log  to  a  sofa  and  was 
completely  impotent. 

It  was  no  wonder  his  convalescence  was  slow,  and  that 
Arabella  grew  anxious  about  him.  She  felt  that  some 
of  Mrs.  Cricklander's  wrath  and  disgust  because  of  this 
state  of  things  would  fall  upon  her  head. 

His  ankle  was  a  great  deal  better  now,  it  was  five 
weeks  since  the  accident,  and  in  a  day  or  two  he  hoped 
to  leave  for  London.  Mrs.  Cricklander  would  be  obliged 
to  take  an  after-cure  at  the  highly  situated  castle  of  an 

286 


HALCYONE 

Austrian  Prince,  an  old  friend  of  hers  —  where  the  air 
was  most  bracing,  she  wrote.  For  her  strict  instruc- 
tions to  Arabella  before  she  left,  after  telling  her  she 
might  have  her  mother  to  keep  her  company,  and  so 
earning  the  good  creature's  deep  gratitude,  had  been: 

"  You  must  keep  me  informed  of  every  slightest  turn 
in  Mr.  Derringham  —  because,  until  he  is  perfectly  well 
and  amusing  again,  I  simply  can't  come  back  to  Eng- 
land. His  tragic  face  bores  me  to  death.  Really,  men 
are  too  tiresome  when  there  is  the  slightest  thing  the 
matter  with  them." 

And  Arabella  had  faithfully  carried  out  her  instruc- 
tions. 

In  common  honesty  she  could  not  inform  her  employer 
that  John  Derringham  was  perfectly  well  or  amusing ! 

Poor  Miss  Clinker's  happy  summer  with  her  mother 
was  being  a  good  deal  dimmed  by  her  unassuaged  sym- 
pathy and  commiseration. 

"  Of  course,  he  is  grieving  for  that  sweet  and  dis- 
tinguished girl,  Miss  Halcyone  La  Sarthe,"  she  told  her- 
self —  and  with  the  old  maid's  hungering  for  romance, 
which  even  the  highest  education  cannot  quite  crush 
from  the  female  breast,  she  longed  to  know  what  had 
parted  them. 

Mr.  Carlyon  had  gone  abroad,  she  had  ascertained 
that,  and  La  Sarthe  Chase  was  still  closed. 

The  night  before  John  Derringham  left  for  London, 
he  hobbled  down  to  dinner  on  crutches.  He  was  not  to 
try  and  use  his  foot  for  some  Aveeks  still,  but  the  cut  on 
his  head  was  mended  now.      It  was  a  glorious  July  even- 

287 


HALCYON E 

ing,  the  roses  were  not  over  on  the  terrace,  and  every 
aspect  of  nature  was  gorgeously  beautiful  and  peaceful. 

They  did  not  delay  long  over  their  repast,  and  there 
was  still  twilight  when  Mrs.  and  Miss  Clinker  left  their 
invalid  alone  with  his  wine.  A  letter  was  in  his  pocket, 
arrived  by  the  evening  post  from  Mrs.  Cricklander, 
which  he  had  not  yet  opened.  It  would  contain  her 
reflections  upon  his  changed  conditions  of  fortune,  of 
which  he  had,  when  he  learned  of  its  full  magnitude, 
duly  informed  her. 

He  was  alternately  raging  with  misery  now,  or  per- 
fectly numb  and,  as  he  sat  there  a  shattered  wreck  of 
his  former  insouciant  self,  gaunt  and  haggard  and  piti- 
fully thin,  some  of  his  friends  would  hardly  have  recog- 
nized him. 

He  felt  it  was  his  duty  to  read  the  missive  presently, 
but  he  told  himself  the  lights  were  too  dim,  and  taking 
a  cigar  he  hobbled  out  upon  the  terrace.  His  return  to 
public  life  would  now  be  too  late  to  help  to  avert  disaster, 
he  must  just  stand  aside  in  these  last  weeks  of  the  ses- 
sion and  see  the  shipwreck.  An  unspeakable  bitterness 
invaded  his  spirit.  The  moon  was  rising  when  he  got 
outside,  one  day  beyond  its  full.  It  seemed  like  a 
golden  ball  in  the  twilight  of  opal  tints,  before  it  should 
rise  in  its  silver  majesty  to  supreme  command  of  the 
night.  Nature  was  in  one  of  her  most  sensuously  divine 
moods.     The  summer  and  fulfillment  had  come. 

John  Derringham  sat  down  in  a  comfortable  chair 
and  gazed  in  front  of  him. 

There  had  been  moonlight,  too,  when  he  had  spent 

288 


HALCYONE 

those  exquisite  hours  with  his  love,  now  six  weeks  ago 

—  a  young  half  moon.  Could  it  be  only  six  weeks  ?  A 
lifetime  of  anguish  appeared  to  have  rolled  between. 
And  where  was  she?  Then,  for  the  first  time,  the  crust 
of  his  self -absorption  seemed  to  crumble,  and  he  thought 
with  new  stabs  of  pain  how  she,  too,  must  have  suffered. 
He  began  to  picture  her  waiting  by  the  gate  —  she 
would  be  brave  and  quiet.     And  then,  as  the  day  passed 

—  what  had  she  done?  He  could  not  imagine,  but  she 
must  have  suffered  intolerably.  When  could  she  have 
heard  of  the  accident,  since  the  next  day  she  had  been 
taken  away?  Why  had  she  gone?  That  was  unlike 
her,  to  have  given  in  to  any  force  which  could  separate 
them.  And  if  he  had  known  this  step  also  was  uncon- 
sciously caused  by  his  own  action  in  having  his  letter 
to  Cheiron  posted  from  London,  it  would  have  tortured 
him  the  more.  Another  thought  came,  and  he  started 
forward  in  his  chair.  Was  it  possible  that  she  had 
written  to  him,  and  that  the  letter  had  got  mislaid,  among 
the  prodigious  quantity  which  accumulated  in  those  first 
days  of  his  unconsciousness? 

Then  he  sank  back  again.  Even  if  this  were  so,  it 
was  too  late  now.  Everything  was  too  late  —  from  that 
awful  night  when  he  had  become  engaged  to  Cecilia 
Cricklander. 

She  had  put  the  announcement  into  the  paper  not 
quite  three  weeks  after  the  accident.  What  could  Hal- 
cyone  have  thought  of  him  and  his  unspeakable  base- 
ness? Now  she  could  have  nothing  but  loathing  and 
contempt  in  her  heart,  wherever  she  was  —  and  what 

289 


HALCYONE 

right  had  he  to  have  broken  the  beliefs  and  shattered 
the  happiness  of  that  pure,  young  soul? 

He  remembered  his  old  master's  words  about  a  man's 
honor  towards  women.  It  was  true  then  that  it  was 
regulated,  not  by  the  woman's  feelings  or  anguish,  but 
by  the  man's  inclination  and  whether  or  no  the  world 
should  hold  him  responsible.  And  he  realized  that  this 
latter  reason  was  the  force  which  now  prevented  his 
breaking  his  engagement  with  Mrs.  Cricklander.  He 
had  behaved  with  supreme  selfishness  in  the  beginning, 
and  afterwards  with  a  weakness  which  would  always 
make  him  writhe  when  he  thought  of  it. 

His  self-respect  was  receiving  a  crushing  blow.  He 
clasped  his  thin  hands  and  his  head  sank  forward  upon 
his  breast  in  utter  dejection;  he  closed  his  eyes  as  if  to 
shut  out  too  painful  pictures.  And  when  he  opened 
them  again  it  was  darker,  and  the  moon  made  misty 
shadows  through  the  trees,  and  out  of  them  he  seemed 
to  see  Halcyone's  face  quite  close  to  him.  It  was  tender 
and  pitiful  and  full  of  love.  The  hallucination  was  so 
startlingly  vivid  that  he  almost  fancied  her  lips  moved, 
and  she  whispered :  "  Courage,  beloved."  Then  he 
knew  that  he  was  dreaming,  and  that  he  was  gazing  into 
space  —  alone. 


CHAPTER  XXIX 

>RS.  CRICKLANDER,  at  Carlsbad,  was  not  al- 
together pleased  to  receive  the  news  of  her 
fiance's  accession  to  fortune.  She  realized 
that  John  Derringham  was  not  the  sort  of  man  to  give 
up  his  will  to  any  woman  unless  the  woman  had  entirely 
the  whip  hand,  as  she  would  have  had  if  he  had  been 
dependent  upon  her  for  the  financial  aid  wherewith  to 
obtain  his  ambitions.  She  would  have  practically  no 
hold  over  him  now,  and,  when  he  was  well,  he  was  so  at- 
tractive that  she  might  even  grow  to  care  too  deeply  for 
him  for  her  own  welfare.  To  allow  herself  to  become  in 
love  with  a  husband  who  was  answerable  to  her  for  his 
very  food  and  lodging,  and  whom  she  could  punish 
and  keep  in  bondage  when  she  pleased,  was  quite  a 
different  matter  to  experiencing  that  emotion  towards 
an  imperious,  independent  creature  going  his  own 
way,  and  even,  perhaps,  compelling  her  to  conform  to 
his. 

"  How  stupid  of  the  old  man,  Mr.  Scroope,  to  have 
married  so  late !  "  she  said  to  herself,  as  usual  finding 
everyone  wrong  who  in  any  way  interfered  with  her 
wishes. 

John  Derringham's  letters  —  only  two  a  week  she  re- 

291 


HALCYONE 

ceived  from  him  —  were  his  usual  masterpieces  of  style, 
and  in  them  he  employed  his  skill  to  say  everything  — 
and  nothing. 

She  felt  pleased  as  she  read,  and  then  resentful  when 
she  thought  over  them.  He  had  never  once  used  a  word 
of  personal  endearment,  although  the  letters  were  beau- 
tifully expressed.  He  seemed  most  happy  and  com- 
fortable with  Arabella.  After  all,  perhaps  she  would 
not  go  and  stay  with  Prince  Brunemetz  at  Brudenstein. 
She  might  make  John  come  out  and  join  her  and  go  on 
to  St.  Moritz  —  that  would  do  him  good.  She  could 
wire  for  Arabella.  The  convenances  were  so  dear  to 
her.  The  wedding  should  take  place  in  October,  she 
decided. 

And  two  days  after  John  Derringham  had  arrived  in 
London  at  his  old  rooms  in  Duke  Street,  she  wrote  and 
suggested  this  plan  to  him  —  and  then  the  first  pre- 
liminary crossing  of  swords  between  them  happened. 
He  answered  that  he  would  come  and  join  her  later,  but 
until  the  session  was  over  he  could  not  leave  town,  and 
he  begged  her  to  go  and  stay  with  Prince  Brunemetz, 
or  do  anything  else  which  would  amuse  her.  He  was 
still  upon  crutches,  he  said,  and  not  fitted  to  be  a  cav- 
alier to  any  lady. 

She  shut  her  mouth  with  a  snap,  and,  sitting  down, 
wrote  a  long  letter  to  Mr.  Hanbury-Green,  with  whom 
she  kept  up  a  brisk  correspondence.  Very  well,  then ! 
she  would  go  to  Brudenstein;  she  would  not  martyrize 
herself  by  being  with  a  man  on  crutches !  So  half  of 
her  August  passed  in  a  most  agreeable  manner,  and  to- 

292 


HALCYONE 

wards  the  end  of  the  month  she  summoned  her  fiance  to 
Florence.  He  could  walk  with  a  stick  now  —  and  to 
meet  her  there  and  go  on  to  Venice  and  out  to  the  Lido 
would  be  quite  delightful,  and  could  not  hurt  him.  She 
deserved  some  attention  after  this  long  time ! 

The  end  of  the  session  had  come,  and  still  the  Govern- 
ment hung  on,  but  it  was  obvious  that  they  had  been 
so  much  discredited  that  the  end  could  not  be  long  post- 
poned, and  that,  as  soon  as  Parliament  met  again,  a 
hostile  vote  would  be  carried  against  them.  But  for 
the  time  there  was  nothing  to  keep  John  Derringham  in 
England,  and  with  intense  reluctance  he  started  for 
Italy,  the  ever-nearing  date  for  his  wedding  looming  in 
front  of  him  like  some  heavy  cloud.  He  had  plunged 
headlong  into  work  when  he  had  returned  from  Wend- 
over,  for  which  he  was  still  quite  unfit.  His  whole 
system  had  received  a  terrible  shock,  and  it  would  be 
months  before  he  could  hope  to  be  his  old  robust  self 
again;  and  an  unutterable  depression  was  upon  him. 
The  total  silence  of  Halcyone,  her  disappearance  from 
the  face  of  the  earth  as  far  as  he  was  concerned,  seemed 
like  something  incredible. 

There  were  no  traces  of  her.  Mrs.  Porrit  was  out, 
and  the  orchard  house  shut  up,  so  he  obtained  no  in- 
formation. He  had  stopped  there  to  enquire  on  his  way 
to  the  station  when  he  had  left  Wendover.  La  Sarthe 
Chase  was  entirely  closed,  except  for  a  woman  and  her 
husband  from  the  village  who  slept  there.  But  what 
right  had  he  to  be  interested  now,  in  any  case?  He 
had  better  shut  the  whole  matter  out  of  his  mind,  and 

293 


HALCYONE 

keep    his    thoughts    upon    his    coming    marriage    with 
Cecilia  Cricklander. 

And  it  was  this  frame  of  mind  which  caused  him  to 
plunge  recklessly  into  work  as  soon  as  he  reached  Lon- 
don, though  he  found  that  nothing  really  assuaged  his 
misery. 

It  was  a  glorious  day  towards  the  end  of  August 
when  he  got  onto  the  boat  at  Dover,  and  there  ran 
across  Miss  Cora  Lutworth,  bent  upon  trousseau  busi- 
ness in  Paris.  She  was  with  her  friend,  the  lady  who 
chaperoned  her,  and  greeted  him  with  her  usual  breezy 
charm. 

They  sat  down  together  in  a  comfortable  corner  on 
deck,  while  the  lady  went  to  have  a  sleep.  They  talked 
of  many  things  and  mutual  friends.  He  was  doing 
what  was  a  comparatively  rare  thing  in  those  days, 
taking  over  a  motor  to  tour  down  to  Venice  in,  and 
Cora  was  duly  interested.  Freynie  adored  motoring, 
too,  she  said,  and  that  was  how  they  intended  to  spend 
their  honeymoon.  She  was  going  to  be  married  in  a 
few  weeks,  and  was  radiantly  happy. 

This  was  the  first  time  she  had  seen  John  Derring- 
ham  since  his  engagement  and  his  accident,  and  the 
great  change  in  him  gave  her  an  unpleasant  shock. 
There  were  quite  a  number  of  silver  threads  in  his 
dark  hair  above  the  temples,  and  he  looked  haggard  and 
gaunt  and  lifeless.     Cora's  kind  heart  was  touched. 

"I  am  sure  he  does  not  care. a  rush  for  Cis,"  she 
thought  to  herself,  "  and  I  am  sure  he  did  for  that 
sweet  Halcyone.     He  and  Cis  are  not  married  yet ;  there 

294 


HALCYONE 

can  be  no  harm  in  my  mentioning  her."     So  aloud  she 
said: 

"  You  remember  our  meeting  that  charming  Miss 
Halcyone  La  Sarthe  across  the  haw-haw  on  Easter  Sun- 
Jay?  Well,  fancy,  I  came  across  her  in  London  at 
V.he  end  of  June  —  in  Kensington  Gardens,  sitting  with 
Hie  long-haired  old  Professor.  I  was  surprised;  some- 
how one  could  not  picture  her  out  of  her  own  park." 
She  watched  John  Derringham's  face  carefully,  and 
saw  that  this  information  moved  him. 

"Did  you?"  he  said,  with  an  intense  tone  in  his 
deep  voice.     "  What  was  she  doing  there,  I  wonder?  " 

"  She  looked  too  sweet,"  Cora  went  on.  "  She  was 
wearing  becoming  modern  clothes,  and  seemed  to  me  to 
have  grown  so  pretty.  But  she  was  very  pale  and 
quiet.  She  came  to  tea  with  me  the  next  day  —  I 
cannot  say  how  she  fascinates  me.  I  just  love  her  — 
and  then,  on  the  Saturday  she  was  to  go  abroad  with 
the  Professor." 

"  Really  ?  "  said  John  Derringham,  while  he  could 
feel  his  heart  begin  to  beat  very  fast.  "  Where  were 
they  going,  do  you  know?  I  would  like  to  run  across 
my  old  master." 

"  I  think  to  Brittany  for  July,  and  then  Switzer- 
land; but  they  intended  to  get  into  Italy  as  soon  as  it 
was  cool  enough.  They  seemed  to  be  going  to  have  a 
lovely  trip  and  take  a  long  time  about  it." 

"  I  had  no  idea  Miss  La  Sarthe  had  any   relations 
in   London,"   he   said.     "  Who   was    she    staying  with 
there?     Did  she  tell  you?" 
20  295 


HALCYONE 

"  Her  stepfather,  I  think,"  Cora  said.  "  Her  mother 
married  twice,  it  appears,  and  then  died,  and  the  man 
married  again.  This  second  wife,  her  sort  of  step- 
mother, came  and  fetched  her  from  La  Sarthe  Chase 
quite  suddenly  one  day." 

"  I  cannot  think  of  her  in  London,"  said  John  Der- 
ringham.  "Did  she  like  it,  do  you  think?  And  was 
she  changed?  " 

"  Yes,  very  changed,"  Cora  answered,  and  made  her 
voice  casual.  "  She  looked  as  if  the  joy  of  life  had 
fled  forever,  and  as  if  she  were  just  getting  through  the 
time.  Perhaps  she  hated  being  with  her  step-family  — 
people  often  do." 

Then  she  glanced  at  him  stealthily  as  he  stared  out 
at  the  sea,  while  she  thought :  "  I  am  sure  some  awful 
tragedy  is  here  underneath;  it  is  not  only  his  broken 
ankle  and  his  illness  that  has  made  him  such  a  wreck. 
I  wish  I  could  help  them.  I  would  not  care  a  snap 
for  Cis,  who  is  a  rattlesnake  if  she  wants  something." 

"  When  was  it,  exactly,  you  saw  her?  "  John  Der- 
ringham  asked.  "  But  perhaps  you  don't  remember  the 
date?" 

"  Yes,  I  do,"  Cora  responded  quickly.  "  It  was  the 
day  your  engagement  was  announced  in  the  papers,  be- 
cause we  spoke  about  it." 

"  Did  you?  "  he  said,  and  drew  in  his  breath  a  little. 
"  And  what  did  you  say  ?  " 

"  Just  the  usual  things  —  how  fortunate  you  were. 
And  Halcyone  said  you  were  clever  and  great." 

John    Derringham    did    not    answer    for    a    moment. 

296 


HALCYONE 

This  stunned  him.  Then  he  replied,  very  low,  "  That 
was  good  of  her,"  and  Cora  noticed  that  even  with 
the  fresh  wind  blowing  in  his  face  he  had  grown  very 
pale. 

"  Cis  writes  you  are  going  to  be  married  at  the  be- 
ginning of  October,"  she  said,  to  change  the  conver- 
sation. "  I  do  hope  you  will  be  awfully  happy.  It  is 
so  exquisite  to  be  in  love,  isn't  it?  I  adore  being  en- 
gaged !  " 

But  John  Derringham  could  not  bear  this  —  the  two 
things  were  so  widely  severed  in  his  case.  He  did  not 
answer,  and  Cora  saw,  although  his  face  remained  un- 
moved, that  pain  grew  deep  in  his  eyes. 

"  Mr.  Derringham,"  she  said,  "  I  am  going  to  say 
something  indiscreet  and  perhaps  in  frightful  taste 
—  but  I  am  so  happy  I  can't  bear  to  think  that  possi- 
bly others  are  not  quite.  I  know  Cis  awfully  well  — 
her  character,  I  mean.  Is  there  anything  I  can  do  for 
you?  " 

John  Derringham  turned  with  a  chillingly  haughty 
glance  intended  to  wither,  but  when  he  saw  her  sweet 
face  full  of  frank  sympathy  and  kindness,  it  touched 
him  and  his  manner  changed. 

"  We  have  each  of  us  to  fulfill  our  fates,"  he  said. 
"  I  suppose  we  each  deserve  what  we  receive,  and  I  am 
so  glad  yours  seems  to  be  such  a  very  happy  one." 

Then  he  made  some  excuse  to  get  up  and  leave  her  — 
he  could  bear  no  more. 

And  Cora,  left  alone,  smiled  sadly  to  herself  while 
she  reflected  what  a  foolish  thing  pride  was,  and  all 

297 


HALCYONE 

the  other  shams  which  robbed  life  of  the  only   thing 
really  worth  having. 

"  Well,  I  should  not  let  any  of  that  nonsense  ever 
stand  between  Freynie  and  me,  thank  goodness ! "  she 
concluded. 

But  John  Derringham  limped  off  to  the  bows  of  the 
ship,  quivering  with  pain.  So  Halcyone  had  spoken 
of  his  engagement  and  said  he  was  "  clever  and  great." 
What  could  it  all  mean?  Did  he  no  longer  interest  her 
then  —  even  at  that  period  ?  This  stung  him  deeply. 
There  was  no  light  anywhere.  When  once  he  had 
grasped  the  full  significance  of  his  own  conduct  he  was 
much  too  fine  an  intelligence  to  deceive  himself,  or  per- 
suade himself  to  see  any  other  aspect  but  the  hopeless 
one,  that  the  entire  chain  of  events  was  the  result  of 
his  own  action.  But  surely  there  must  be  some  way 
out?  If  he  wrote  straight  to  Cecilia  and  told  her  the 
truth?  And  then  he  almost  laughed  bitterly  as  he 
realized  the  futility  of  this  plan.  What  would  the  truth 
matter  to  Mrs.  Cricklander?  She  could  very  well  re- 
tort that  he  had  known  all  this  truth  from  the  be- 
ginning, and  had  been  willing  to  marry  her  while  his 
financial  position  made  it  an  advantage  to  himself,  but 
was  now  recalcitrant  only  because  fortune  had  other- 
wise poured  gold  into  his  lap. 

No,  there  was  no  hope.  He  must  go  through  with 
it. 

So  he  crushed  down  his  emotions  and  forced  himself  to 
return  to  Miss  Lutworth  and  talk  brightly  to  her  until 
they  landed. 

298 


HALCYONE 

And  when  they  parted  at  the  Gare  du  Nord,  Cora  was 
left  with  the  impression  that,  whatever  might  be  the 
undercurrent,  John  Derringham  was  strong  enough  to 
face  his  fate,  and  not  give  anyone  the  satisfaction  of 
knowing  whether  in  it  he  found  pleasure  or  pain. 

When  he  arrived  about  ten  days  later  at  the  hotel 
in  Florence,  where  Mrs.  Cricklander  was  staying,  wait- 
ing for  him  to  accompany  her  on  to  Venice,  he  found 
her  in  a  very  bad  temper.  She  felt  that  she  had  not 
been  treated  with  that  deference  and  respect  which  was 
her  due,  to  say  nothing  of  the  ardor  that  a  lover  ought 
to  have  shown  by  hastening  to  her  side.  Why  had 
he  motored,  spending  ten  days  on  a  journey  that  he 
could  have  accomplished  in  two?  And  he  made  no  ex- 
cuses, and  seemed  quite  unimpressed  by  her  mood  one 
way  or  another.  He  was  so  changed,  too !  Gaunt  and 
haggard  —  he  had  certainly  lost  every  one  of  his  good 
looks,  except  his  distinction  —  that  seemed  more  marked 
than  ever.  His  arrogant  air  that  she  had  once  ad- 
mired so  much  now  only  caused  her  to  feel  a  great 
irritation.  He  had  made  the  excuse  of  the  waiter  not 
having  quite  closed  the  door,  apparently,  for  only  kiss- 
ing her  hand  by  way  of  greeting,  and  then  he  said 
just  the  right  thing  about  her  beauty  and  his  pleasure 
in  seeing  her,  and  sat  down  by  her  side  upon  the 
sofa  in  far  too  collected  a  manner  for  a  lover  to  have 
shown  after  these  weeks  of  separation.  Mrs.  Crick- 
lander  grew  very  angry  indeed.  Cold  and  capricious 
behavior  should  only  be  shown  upon  a  woman's  side, 
she  felt! 

299 


HALC YONE 

"  Your  Government  made  a  colossal  mess  of  things 
before  the  session  was  over,  did  they  not?"  she  said 
by  way  of  something  to  start  upon.  "  Mr.  Hanbury- 
Green  tells  me  you  will  have  to  face  a  hostile  vote 
when  you  reassemble,  and  that  the  whole  thing  is  a 
played-out  game.  How  long  would  the  Radicals  last 
if  they  do  come  in?  —  and  it  looks  like  a  certainty  that 
they  will." 

"  Seven  years,  most  likely,"  said  John  Derringham  a 
little  bitterly.  "  Or  perhaps  to  the  end  of  time.  Your 
friend  Mr.  Green  could  tell  you  more  accurately  than 
I.     Does  the  fact  interest  you  very  deeply?  " 

"  Yes,"  she  said,  and  narrowed  her  eyes.  "  I  am 
wildly  interested  in  everything  that  concerns  you,  of 
course  —  that   is   obvious." 

"  You  will  help  me  to  fight,  then,  for  the  Opposition. 
Your  social  talents  are  so  great,  dear  Cecilia,  you  will 
make  a  most  brilliant  Tory  hostess,"  and  he  took  her 
hand  —  he  felt  he  must  do  something. 

"  I  have  always  been  on  the  winning  side,"  she  said, 
not  more  than  half  playfully.  "  I  do  not  know  how 
I  should  like  seven  years  of  fighting  an  uncertain  fight. 
I  might  get  extremely  bored  by  it.  I  had  no  idea  it 
would  last  so  long."  And  she  laughed  a  little  uncom- 
fortably. "  However,  we  are  perfectly  modern,  aren't 
we,  John,  and  need  not  spend  the  entire  year  fighting 
together  —  fortunately?  " 

"  No,"  he  said.  "  I  am  sure  we  shall  be  an  admi- 
rable pair  of  citizens  of  the  world.  And  now  I  suppose 
I  must  let  you  go  and  dress  for  dinner.     How  is  our 

300 


H  A  L  C  Y  O  N  E 

estimable  friend,  Miss  Clinker?  She  is  with  you,  I 
suppose?  —  or  have  you  friends  staying  in  the  hotel? 
You  did  not  tell  me  in  your  letters." 

"  I  never  waste  sweetness  upon  the  desert  air,"  she 
said,  smiling,  with  a  glitter  in  her  eyes.  "  You  did 
not  appear  over  anxious  to  hear  of  my  doings.  Our 
correspondence  made  me  laugh  sometimes.  You  never 
wrote  as  though  you  had  received  any  of  my  letters  — 
yours  were  just  masterpieces  of  how  little  to  say  — 
and  of  how  to  say  it  beautifully !  " 

John  Derringham  shrugged  his  shoulders  slightly;  he 
did  not  defend  himself,  and  her  anger  rose.  So  that 
she  was  leaving  the  room  with  her  head  in  the  air  and 
two  bright  spots  of  pink  in  her  cheeks. 

Then  he  felt  constrained  to  vindicate  his  position, 
so  he  put  his  arm  round  her  and  drew  her  to  him,  in- 
tending to  kiss  her.  But  she  looked  up  into  his  face 
with  an  expression  in  her  eyes  which  left  him  com- 
pletely repulsed.  It  was  mocking  and  bitter  and  cun- 
ning, and  she  put  out  her  hand  and  pushed  him  from 
her. 

"  I  do  not  want  any  of  your  caresses  to-night,"  she 
said.  "  When  I  do,  I'll  pay  for  them."  And  she  swept 
from  the  room,  leaving  him  quivering  with  debasementc 


CHAPTER  XXX 

^^fcte^HERE  was  fortunately  a  company  assembled 
I  J  for  dinner  when  John  Derringham  descended 

^^^r  to  the  restaurant  and  again  joined  Ins 
fiancee  —  who  never  dined  alone  if  she  could  help  it, 
and  reveled  in  gay  parties  for  every  meal,  with  plenty 
of  brilliant  lights  and  the  chatter  of  other  groups  near 
at  hand.  Wherever  she  went,  from  Carlsbad  to  Cairo, 
in  the  best  restaurant  you  could  always  find  her  amidst 
her  many  friends,  feasting  every  night.  And  now  the 
party  consisted  of  some  of  her  compatriots,  a  Russian 
Prince,  and  an  Italian  Marchese.  She  looked  superbly 
beautiful;  anger  had  lent  a  sparkle  to  her  eyes  and  a 
flush  to  her  cheeks;  no  rouge  was  needed  to-night,  and 
she  could  scintillate  to  her  heart's  content.  She  flashed 
words  occasionally  at  John  Derringham,  and  he  knew, 
and  was  horribly  conscious  all  the  time,  that  once  he 
would  have  found  her  most  brilliant,  but  that  now  it 
was  exactly  as  when  he  had  looked  at  the  X-ray 
photograph  of  his  own  broken  ankle,  where  the  sole 
thing  winch  made  a  reality  was  the  skeleton  substruc- 
ture. He  could  only  seem  to  see  Cecilia  Cricklander's 
vulgar  soul  —  the  pink  and  white  perfection  of  her 
body  had  melted  into  nothingness. 

He  found  himself  listening  for  some  of  her  parrot- 

302 


HALCYONE 

utterances,  as  a  detached  spectator,  and  taking  a  sort 
of  ugly  pleasure  in  recognizing  which  were  the  phrases 
of  Arabella.  The  man  upon  her  left  hand  was  in- 
telligent, and  was  gazing  at  her  with  the  rapt  attention 
beauty  always  commands,  and  she  was  uttering  her 
finest  platitudes. 

And  once  John  Derringham  leant  back  in  his  chair, 
when  no  one  was  observing  him,  and  laughed  aloud. 
The  supreme  mocker}'  of  it  all!  And  in  five  weeks 
from  this  night  this  woman  would  be  his  wife! 

His  xmfe!     Ye  gods ! 

They  had  no  tete-a-tete  words  before  the  party 
broke  up,  and  had  hardly  exchanged  a  sentence  when, 
as  the  last  guest  was  saying  farewell,  Arabella,  too, 
retired  from  the  sitting-room. 

So  they  were  alone. 

"  Cecilia,"  he  said,  coining  up  quite  close  to  her, 
"  we  started  rather  badly  to-night  —  at  least  let  us 
be  friends."  And  he  held  out  his  hand.  "  Believe  me, 
I  wish  to  do  all  that  I  can  to  please  you,  but  I  am 
afraid  I  make  a  very  indifferent  sort  of  lover.  Forgive 
me." 

"  Oh,  you  are  well  enough,  I  suppose,"  she  said. 
"  No  man  values  what  he  has  won  —  it  is  only  the 
winning  of  it  that  is  any  fun.  I  understand  the  feeling 
myself.     Don't  let  us  talk  heroics." 

John  Derringham  smiled. 

"  Certainly  not,"  he  said. 

And  then  she  put  up  her  face  and  let  him  kiss  her, 
which  he  did  with  some  sickening  revolt  in  his  heart. 

303 


HALCYONE 

Even  her  physical  beauty  had  no  more  any  effect  upon 
him  —  he  would  as  soon  have  kissed  Arabella. 

So  she  sailed  from  the  room  again,  with  her  mouth 
shut  like  a  vice,  and  her  handsome  eyes  glancing  at  him 
over  her  shoulder. 

Next  day,  after  having  kept  him  waiting  for  an  hour 
to  take  her  out,  she  decided  they  should  spend  what 
remained  of  the  morning  at  the  Bargello.  And,  when 
they  got  there,  she  did  her  best  to  be  a  charming  com- 
panion, and  pressed  him  to  lean  upon  her  instead  of  his 
stick.  But  to  his  awakened  understanding  what  was 
even  probably  true  in  her  talk  and  comprehension  of  the 
gems  of  art,  seemed  false  and  affected,  and  he  was  only 
conscious  of  one  continual  jar  as  she  spoke. 

A  thousand  little  trifles,  never  remarked  before,  now 
appeared  to  loom  large  in  his  vision.  At  last  they 
came  to  the  galleries  above,  to  the  collection  of  the  Delia 
Robbias,  and  Mrs.  Cricklander  rhapsodized  over  them, 
mixing  them  up  with  delightful  unconcern.  They  were 
all  just  bits  of  cheap-looking  crockery  to  her  eye,  and 
it  was  impossibly  difficult  to  distinguish  which  was 
Luca's,  Andrea's,  or  Giovanni's ;  and,  security  having 
made  her  careless,  she  committed  several  blunders. 

John  Derringham  laid  no  pitfalls  for  her  —  indeed, 
he  helped  her  out  when  he  could.  To-day  each  new 
discovery  no  longer  made  him  smile  with  bitter  cynicism, 
he  was  only  filled  with  a  sense  of  discomfort  and  re- 
gret. 

He  stopped  in  front  of  Andrea's  masterpiece,  the 
tender  young  Madonna.     Something  in  the  expression 

304 


HALCYONE 

of  the  face  made  him  think  of  Halcyone,  although  the 
types  of  the  two  were  entirely  different ;  and  Cecilia 
Cricklander,  watching,  saw  a  look  of  deep  pain  grow 
in  his  eyes. 

"  I  wish  to  goodness  he  would  get  well  and  be  human 
and  masterful  and  brilliant,  as  he  used  to  be,"  she 
thought.  "  I  am  thoroughly  tired  out,  trying  to  cope 
with  him.  He  is  no  more  use  now  than  a  bump  on  a 
log.      I  am  sorry  I  made  him  come  here !  " 

"  It  is  about  time  for  lunch,"  said  John  Derringham, 
who  could  no  longer  bear  her  prattle ;  and  they  re- 
turned to  the  hotel. 

Arabella  and  an  American  man  made  the  partie  car- 
ree,  and  Miss  Clinker  did  her  best  to  help  to  get  through 
the  repast,  and  afterwards  wrote  in  a  letter  to  her 
mother : 

Mr.  Derringham  has  arrived.  He  still  looks 
dreadfully  ill  and  careworn,  and  I  can  see  is  feel- 
ing his  position  acutely.  Since  that  dreadful  day 
when  he  found  my  notes  in  Gibbon,  I  have  never 
dared  to  look  at  him  when  in  the  company  of  M.  E. 
I  feel  that  distressing  sensation  of  hot  and  cold 
during  the  whole  time.  M.  E.,  now  that  no  further 
great  efforts  are  needed,  chatters  on  with  most  dis- 
quieting inconsequence.  I  can  see  she  is  very 
much  upset  at  Mr.  Derringham's  attitude.  The 
impression  that  the  Conservative  Goverment  can- 
not last  has  had  also  a  great  effect  upon  her,  and 
she  has  set  me  to  find  out  exactly  the  position  and 
amount  of  prestige  the  wife  of  a  rising  member  of 

305 


H ALCYONE 

the  Opposition  would  have.  This  morning  she 
sent  for  me,  when  she  was  dressing,  to  know  if  it 
were  true,  as  Mr.  Derringham  had  told  her,  that, 
if  the  Radicals  got  in,  they  might  last  seven  years 
—  because,  if  so,  she  would  then  be  almost  thirty- 
eight,  and  the  best  days  of  her  youth  would  be 
over.  I  do  not  dare  to  think  what  these  remarks 
may  mean,  but  in  connection  with  the  fact  that  she 
receives  daily  letters  from  Mr.  Hanbury-Green  — 
that  unpleasant  Socialistic  person  who  is  coming 
so  much  to  the  front  —  I  almost  fear,  and  yet 
hope,  that  there  is  some  chance  for  Mr.  Derring- 
ham's  escape.  He  is  bearing  his  trouble  as  only 
an  English  gentleman  could  do,  and  at  lunch  paid 
her  every  attention. 

And  old  Mrs.  Clinker  smiled  when  she  got  this  letter. 

But  by  the  end  of  the  afternoon  John  Derringham's 
face  wore  no  smiles ;  a  blank  despair  had  settled  upon 
him. 

They  drove  along  the  Amo  and  into  the  Gardens. 

It  was  warm  and  beautiful,  but,  so  forceful  is  a 
hostile  atmosphere  created  between  two  people,  they 
both  found  it  impossible  to  make  conversation. 

Mrs.  Cricklander  was  burning  with  rage  and  a  sense 
of  impotency.  She  felt  her  words  and  all  her  arts  of 
pleasing  were  being  nullified,  and  that  she  was  up 
against  an  odious  situation  in  which  her  strongest 
weapons  were  powerless.  It  made  her  nervous  and  very 
cross.  She  particularly  resented  not  being  able  to  as- 
certain the  cause  of  the  change  in  him,  and  felt  per- 

306 


HALCYONE 

sonally  aggrieved  at  his  still  being  a  wretched  wreck 
hobbling  with  a  stick.  He  ought  to  have  got  quite  well 
by  now  —  it  was  perfectly  ridiculous.  What  if,  after 
all,  he  would  not  be  worth  while?  But  the  indomitable 
part  of  her  character  made  her  tenacious.  She  felt 
it  was  a  different  matter,  throwing  away  what  she  had 
won,  to  having  to  relinquish  something  that  she  knew 
she  had  never  really  gained.  She  would  make  one  more 
determined  effort,  and  then,  if  he  would  not  give  her 
love,  he  should  be  made  to  feel  his  bondage,  she  would 
extort  from  him  to  the  last  ounce,  her  pound  of  flesh. 

"  John,  darling,"  she  said,  slipping  her  hand  into 
his,  under  the  rug  as  they  drove,  "  this  beautiful  place 
makes  me  feel  so  romantic.  I  wish  you  would  make 
love  to  me.  You  sit  there  looking  like  Dante  with  a 
beard,  as  cold  as  ice." 

"  I  am  very  sorry,"  he  answered,  startled  from  a 
reverie.  "  I  know  I  am  a  failure  in  such  sort  of  ways. 
What  do  you  want  me  to  say?  " 

This  was  not  promising,  and  her  annoyance  increased. 

"  I  want  you  to  tell  me  you  love  me  —  over  and  over 
again,"   she  whispered,  controlling  her  voice. 

"  Women  always  ask  these  questions,"  he  said  to 
gain  time.  "  They  never  take  anything  for  granted  as 
men  do." 

"  No ! "  she  flashed.  "  Not  when  a  man's  actions 
point  to  the  possibility  of  several  other  interpretations 
of  his  sentiments  —  then  they  want  words  to  console 
them.     But  you  give  me  neither." 

"  I  am  not  a  demonstrative  person,"  he  responded.    "  I 

307 


HALCYONE 

will  do  all  I  can  to  make  you  happy,  but  do  not  ask  me 
for  impossibilities.  You  will  have  to  put  up  with  me 
as  I  am." 

"  I  shall  decide  that !  "  And  she  snatched  away  her 
hand  angrily,  and  then  controlled  herself  —  the  moment 
had  not  yet  come.  He  should  not  have  freedom,  which 
now  she  felt  he  craved ;  he  should  remain  tied  until  he 
had  at  all  events  paid  the  last  price  of  humiliation. 
So  for  the  rest  of  that  day  and  those  that  followed 
she  behaved  with  maddening  capriciousness,  keeping  him 
waiting  for  every  meal  and  every  appointment  —  chang- 
ing her  mind  as  to  what  she  would  do  —  lavishing  ca- 
resses upon  him  which  made  him  wince,  and  then  treat- 
ing him  with  mocking  coldness;  but  all  with  such  ex- 
treme cleverness  that  she  never  once  gave  him  the 
chance  to  bring  things  to  an  open  rupture.  She  was 
beginning  really  to  enjoy  herself  in  this  njew  game  — 
it  required  even  more  skill  to  torture  and  hold  than  to 
attract  and  keep  at  arm's  length.  But  at  last  John 
Derringham  could  bear  no  more. 

They  had  continuous  lunches  and  dinners  with  the 
gay  party  of  Americans  who  had  been  of  the  company 
on  the  first  evening,  and  there  was  never  a  moment's 
peace.  A  life  in  public  was  as  the  breath  of  Cecilia 
Cricklander's  nostrils,  and  she  did  not  consider  the  wishes 
of  her  betrothed.  In  fact,  but  for  spoken  sympathy 
over  his  shattered  condition  and  inability  to  walk  much, 
she  did  not  consider  him  at  all,  and  exacted  his  at- 
tendance on  all  occasions,  whether  too  fatiguing  for 
him  or  not. 

308 


HALCYONE 

The  very  last  shred  of  glamour  about  her  had  long 
fallen  from  John  Derringham's  eyes,  and  indeed  things 
seemed  to  him  more  bald  than  they  really  were.  His 
proud  spirit  chafed  from  morning  to  night  —  chafed 
hopelessly  against  the  knowledge  that  his  own  action 
had  bound  him  as  no  ordinary  bond  of  an  engagement 
could.  His  whole  personality  appeared  to  be  chang- 
ing; he  was  taciturn  or  cynically  caustic,  casting  jibes 
at  all  manner  of  things  he  had  once  held  sacred.  But 
after  a  week  of  abject  misery,  he  refused  to  bear 
any  more,  and  when  Mrs.  Cricklander  grew  tired  of 
Florence,  and  decided  to  move  on  to  Venice,  he  an- 
nounced his  intention  of  taking  a  few  days'  tour  by 
himself.  He  wished  to  see  the  country  round,  he  said, 
and  especially  make  an  excursion  to  San  Gimignano  — 
that  gem  of  all  Italy  for  its  atmosphere  of  the  past. 

"  Oh !  I  am  thoroughly  tired  of  these  moldy  places," 
Mrs.  Cricklander  announced.  "  The  Maulevriers  are 
in  Venice,  and  we  can  have  a  delightful  time  at  the 
Lido ;  the  new  hotel  is  quite  good  —  you  had  much 
better  come  on  with  me  now.  Moping  alone  cannot 
benefit  anyone.  You  really  ought  to  cheer  up  and  get 
quite  well,  John." 

But.  he  was  firm,  and  after  some  bickerings  she  was 
obliged  to  decide  to  go  to  Venice  alone  with  Arabella, 
and  let  her  fiance  depart  in  his  motor  early  the  next 
morning. 

Their  parting  was  characteristic. 

"  Good  night,  Cecilia,"  John  Derringham  said.  No 
matter  how  capricious  she  could  be,  he  always  treated 

309 


HALCYONE 

her  with  ceremonious  politeness.  "  I  am  leaving  so 
very  early  to-morrow,  we  had  better  say  good-by  now. 
I  hope  my  going  does  not  really  inconvenience  you  at  all. 
I  want  a  little  rest  from  your  friends,  and,  when  I  join 
you  at  Venice  again,  I  hope  you  will  let  me  see  more  of 
yourself." 

She  put  up  her  face,  and  kissed  him  with  all  the  girl- 
ish rippling  smiles  she  had  used  for  his  seduction  in 
the  beginning. 

"  Why,  certainly,"  she  said.  "  We  will  be  regular 
old  Darbys-and- Joans ;  so  don't  you  forget  while  you 
are  away  that  you  belong  to  me,  and  I  am  not  going  to 
give  you  up  to  anything  or  anybody  —  so  long  as  I 
want  you  myself !  " 

And  John  Derringham  had  gone  to  his  room  feeling 
more  chained  than  ever,  and  more  bitterly  resentful 
against  fate. 

As  soon  as  he  left  her,  she  sat  down  at  her  writing- 
table  and  wrote  out  a  telegram  to  be  sent  off  the  first 
thing  the  next  day.  It  contained  only  three  words,  and 
was  not  signed. 

But  the  recipient  of  it,  Mr.  Hanbury-Green,  read  it 
with  wild  emotion  when  he  received  it  in  his  rooms  in 
London  —  and  immediately  made  arrangements  to  set 
off  to  Florence  at  once. 

"  I'll  beat  him  yet ! "  he  said  to  himself,  and  he  ro- 
mantically kissed  the  pink  paper.  For,  "  You  may 
come  "  was  what  he  had  read. 


CHAPTER  XXXI 

'N  hour  or  so  before  sunset  the  next  day  John 
Derringham  in  his  motor  was  climbing  the  steep 
roads  which  lead  to  San  Gimignano,  the  city 
of  beautiful  towers,  which  still  stands,  a  record  of 
things  mediaeval,  untouched  by  the  modernizing  hand  of 
men. 

A  helpless  sense  of  bitterness  mastered  him,  and 
destroyed  the  loveliness  and  peace  of  the  view.  Every- 
thing fine  and  great  in  his  thoughts  and  aims  seemed 
tarnished.  To  what  stage  of  degradation  would  his 
utter  disillusion  finally  bring  him !  Of  course,  when 
Cecilia  Cricklander  should  once  be  his  wife,  he  would 
not  permit  her  to  lead  this  life  of  continuous  racket 
—  or,  if  she  insisted  upon  it,  she  should  indulge  in  it 
only  when  she  went  abroad  alone.  He  would  not  en- 
dure it  in  his  home.  And  what  sort  of  home  would 
it  be?  He  was  even  doubtful  about  that  now.  Since 
she  had  so  often  carelessly  thrown  off  her  mask,  he 
no  longer  felt  sure  that  she  would  even  come  up  to 
the  mark  of  what  had  hitherto  seemed  her  chief  charm, 
her  power  of  being  a  clever  and  accomplished  hostess. 
He  could  picture  the  scenes  which  would  take  place  be- 
tween them  when  their  wishes  clashed !  The  contempla- 
tion of  the  future  was  perfectly  ghastly.  He  remem- 
21  311 


HALCYONE 

bered,  with  a  cynical  laugh,  how  in  the  beginning,  before 
that  fateful  Good  Friday  when  the  Professor  first  planted 
ruffling  thoughts  in  his  mind,  and  before  the  spell  of 
Halcyone  had  fallen  upon  him,  he  had  thought  that 
one  of  the  compensations  for  having  to  take  a  rich 
wife  he  had  found  in  Cecilia.  She  would  be  his  in- 
tellectual companion  during  the  rather  rare  moments 
he  would  be  able  to  spare  for  her  from  his  work.  He 
would  be  able  to  live  with  a  woman  cultured  in  all 
branches  which  interested  him,  capable  of  discussing 
with  him  any  book  or  any  thought,  polished  in  brain 
and  in  methods.  He  had  imagined  them,  when  alone 
together,  spending  their  time  in  a  delightful  and  in- 
tellectual communion  of  ideas,  which  would  make  the 
tie  of  marriage  seem  as  almost  a  pleasure.  And  what 
was  the  reality  ?  —  An  absolute  emptiness,  and  the 
knowledge  that,  unless  Arabella  Clinker  continued  her 
ministrations,  he  himself  would  have  to  play  her  part ! 
He  actually  regretted  his  accession  to  fortune.  But 
for  it  he  could  have  broken  off  the  engagement  with  de- 
cency, but  now  his  hands  were  tied.  Only  Cecilia  could 
release  him,  and  she  did  not  seem  to  have  the  slightest  in- 
tention of  doing  so. 

He  savagely  clenched  his  white  teeth  when  he  remem- 
bered the  ridiculous  waiting  lackey  he  had  been  made  to 
turn  into  in  the  last  week.  Then  he  looked  up  and  tried 
to  take  interest  in  the  quaint  gateway  through  which 
he  was  passing  and  on  up  to  the  unique  town  and 
the  square  where  is  the  ancient  Podesta's  palace,  now  the 
hotel.     But  he  was  in  a  mood  of  rasping  cynicism  — 

312 


HALCYONE 

even  the  exquisite  evening  sunlight  seemed  to  mock  at 
him. 

His  highly  trained  eye  took  in  the  wonderful  old- 
world  beauty  around  him  with  some  sense  of  unconscious 
satisfaction,  but  the  saintly  calm  of  the  place  made 
no  impression  upon  him.  Santa  Fina  and  her  flowers 
could  not  soften  or  bring  peace  to  his  galled  soul. 
The  knowledge  that  the  whole  situation  was  the  result 
of  his  own  doings  kept  his  bitterness  always  at  white 
heat.  The  expression  of  his  thin,  haggard  face  was 
sardonic,  and  the  groups  of  simple  children,  accustomed 
to  ask  any  stranger  for  stamps  for  their  collections  — 
a  queer  habit  of  the  place  —  turned  away  from  him 
when  once  they  had  looked  into  his  eyes. 

He  left  his  motor  at  the  hotel  and  wandered  into  the 
square  where  the  remains  of  the  palazzos  of  the  two 
great  Guelph  and  Ghibelline  families,  the  Ardinghelli 
and  the  Salvucci,  frown  at  one  another  not  fifty  yards 
apart  —  shorn  of  their  splendors,  but  the  Salvucci  still 
with  two  towers  from  which  to  hurl  destruction  at  their 
enemies. 

John  Derringham  looked  up  at  the  balcony  whence 
Dante  had  spoken,  and  round  to  the  Cathedral  and  the 
picturesque  square.  The  few  people  who  passed 
seemed  not  in  tune  with  his  thoughts,  so  calm  and  saintly 
was  the  type  of  their  faces  —  all  in  keeping  with  a 
place  where  a  house  of  the  sixteenth  century  is  con- 
sidered so  aggressively  modern  as  not  to  be  of  any  in- 
terest. It  was  too  late  for  him  now  to  go  into  the  Ca- 
thedral; nothing  but  the  fortress  battlements  were  pos- 

313 


HALCYON E 

sible,  and  he  hobbled  there,  desiring  to  see  the  sunset 
from  its  superb  elevation. 

The  gate-keeper,  homely  and  simple,  opened  to  him 
courteously,  and  he  went  in  to  the  first  little  court- 
yard, with  its  fig  tree  in  the  middle  and  old  grass- 
grown  well  surrounded  by  olives  and  lilac  bushes ;  and 
then  he  climbed  the  open  stairs  to  the  bastion,  from 
whose  battlements  there  is  to  be  obtained  the  most  per- 
fect view  imaginable  of  the  country,  the  like  of  which 
Benozzo  Gozzoli  loved  to  paint. 

It  has  not  changed  in  the  least  since  those  days,  ex- 
cept that  the  tiles  of  the  roofs,  which  are  now  dark 
gray  with  age,  were  then  red  and  brilliant.  But  the 
cypress  trees  still  surround  the  monasteries,  and  the 
high  hills  are  still  crowned  with  castellos,  while  the  fields 
make  a  patchwork  of  different  crops  of  olives  and 
vines  and  grain. 

John  Derringham  mounted  the  stairs  with  his  head 
down,  musing  bitterly,  so  that,  until  he  reached  the 
top,  he  was  not  aware  that  a  slender  girl's  figure  was 
seated  upon  the  old  stone  bench  which  runs  round  the 
wall.  Her  hat  lay  upon  the  seat  beside  her,  while  she 
gazed  out  over  the  beautiful  world.  He  paused  with  a 
wildly  beating  heart  in  which  joy  and  agony  fought  for 
mastery,  but,  as  she  turned  to  see  who  this  stranger 
could  be,  thus  breaking  in  upon  her  solitude,  his  voice, 
hoarse  with  emotion,  said  aloud  her  name : 

"  Halcyone !  " 

She  started  to  her  feet,  and  then  sank  back  upon 
the  bench  again  unsteadily,  and  he  came  forward  to  her 

314 


HALCYONE 

side.  They  both  realized  that  they  were  alone  here  in 
the  sunset  —  alone  upon  this  summit  of  the  world. 

He  sat  down  beside  her  and  then  he  buried  his  face 
in  his  hands,  letting  his  cap  fall;  and  all  the  pent-up 
misery  and  anguish  of  the  past  weeks  seemed  to  vibrate 
in  his  voice  as  he  murmured: 

"Ah,  God!  — my  love!" 

Her  soft  eyes  melted  upon  him  in  deepest  tenderness 
and  sorrow.  To  see  him  so  pale  and  shattered,  so 
changed  from  the  splendid  lover  she  had  known ! 

But  he  was  there  —  beside  her  —  and  what  mattered 
anything  else?  She  longed  to  comfort  him  and  tend 
him  with  fond  care.  Had  he  been  the  veriest  outcast  he 
would  ever  have  found  boundless  welcome  and  solace 
waiting  for  him  in  her  loving  heart. 

"  John !  "  she  whispered,  and  put  out  gentle  fingers 
and  caressed  his  hair. 

He  shivered  and  let  his  hands  fall  from  his  haggard 
face. 

"  Darling,"  he  said,  "  I  am  not  worthy  to  touch  the 
hem  of  your  garment.  Why  do  you  not  turn  from  such 
a  weakling  and  brute?  " 

"  Hush !  Hush,"  she  exclaimed,  aghast.  "  You 
must  not  speak  so  of  yourself.  I  love  you  always,  as 
you  know,  and  I  cannot  hear  him  whom  I  love  abused." 

And  now  he  looked  into  her  eyes  while  he  took  her 
slender  hand,  and  there  he  saw  the  same  wells  of  purity 
and  devotion  brimming  with  divine  faith  and  tender- 
ness that  he  had  last  seen  glistening  with  happy  love. 

He  folded  her  to  his  heart ;  the  passionate  emotion 

315 


HALCYONE 

each  was  feeling  was  too  deep,  too  sacred  for  words ; 
and  then  their  eyes  streamed  with  scorching  tears. 

The}-  sat  thus  close  for  some  seconds.  The  thirst 
and  hunger  of  all  these  da}Ts  of  rack  and  anguish  must 
be  assuaged  before  either  could  talk.  But  at  last  she 
drew  a  little  back  and  looked  up  into  his  face. 

"  John,"  she  said  softly,  "  I  read  in  an  English 
paper  a  week  ago  that  your  wedding  was  fixed  for  the 
seventh  of  October  —  my  birthday.     Is  it  the  truth?" 

He  clasped  his  hands  in  agony. 

"  It  can  never  now  be  so,"  he  said.  "  I  cannot,  I 
will  not  go  through  with  it.  Oh,  Halcyone,  my  darling 
one,  you  would  pity  me,  although  you  would  despise 
me,  if  you  knew  — " 

"  I  could  never  despise  you,"  she  answered,  nestling 
once  more  in  his  arms.  "  John,  for  me  nothing  you 
could  do  would  make  any  difference  —  you  would  still 
be  my  love;  and  if  you  were  weak  I  would  make  you 
strong,  and  if  cold  and  hungry,  I  would  feed  and  com- 
fort you,  and  if  wicked,  I  would  only  see  you  good." 

"  Oh,  my  dear,  my  dear,"  he  said,  "  you  were  always 
as  an  angel  of  sweetness.  Listen  to  the  whole  de- 
grading story,  and  tell  me  then  of  that  which  I  must 
do." 

She  took  one  of  his  hands  and  held  it  in  both  of 
hers ;  and  it  was  as  if  some  stream  of  comfort  flowed  to 
him  through  their  soft  warm  touch  and  enabled  him  to 
begin  his  ugly  task. 

He  told  her  the  whole  thing  from  the  beginning. 
Of  his  ambitions,  and  how  they  held  chief  place  in  his 

316 


HALCYON E 

life,  and  how  he  had  meant  to  marry  Cecilia  Crick- 
lander  as  an  aid  to  their  advancement.  He  glossed  over 
nothing  of  his  own  baseness,  but  went  on  to  show  how, 
from  the  moment  he  had  seen  her  upon  that  Good 
Friday  at  the  orchard  house,  his  determination  about 
Cecilia  Cricklander  had  begun  to  waver,  until  the  night 
under  the  tree  when  passion  overcame  every  barrier 
and  he  knew  he  must  possess  her  —  Halcyone  —  for 
his  wife. 

He  made  no  excuse  for  himself;  he  continued  the 
plain  tale  of  how,  Ins  ambitions  still  holding  him, 
he  had  selfishly  tried  to  keep  both  joy  and  them,  by 
asking  her  —  she  who  was  so  infinitely  above  him  — 
to  descend  to  the  invidious  position  of  a  secret  wife. 

She  knew  the  rest  until  it  came  to  the  cause  of  his 
accident,  and,  when  she  heard  it  occurred  because  of 
his  haste  to  get  to  her  before  she  should  reach  the  house, 
she  gave  a  little  moan  of  anguish  and  leaned  her  head 
against  his  breast. 

So  the  story  went  on  —  of  his  agonized  thoughts  and 
fever  and  fears  —  of  his  comprehension  that  she  had 
been  taken  from  him,  and  of  the  utter  hopelessness  of 
his  financial  position,  and  the  whole  outlook,  until  he 
came  to  the  night  of  his  engagement;  and  here  he 
paused. 

"  Do  not  try  to  tell  me  any  of  this  part,  John,  my 
dear  lover,"  she  said.  "  I  know  the  standard  of  honor 
in  a  man  is  that  he  must  never  give  away  the  absent 
woman,  and  I  understand  —  you  need  not  put  anything 
into  words.     I  knew  you  were  unhappy   and   coerced. 

317 


HALCYONE 

I  never  for  a  moment  have  doubted  your  love.  You 
were  surrounded  with  strong  and  cruel  forces,  and  all 
my  tenderness  could  not  reach  you  quite,  to  protect 
you  as  it  should  have  done,  because  I  was  so  full  of 
foolish  anguish  myself.  Dearest,  now  only  tell  me  the 
end  and  the  facts  that  I  must  know.'* 

He  held  her  close  to  him  in  thankfulness,  and  then 
went  on  to  speak  of  the  shame  and  degradation  he  had 
suffered  for  his  weakness ;  the  drawn-out  da}rs  of  aching 
wonder  at  her  silence,  and  finally  the  news  of  his  Uncle 
Joseph  Scroope's  death  and  the  fortune  that  would 
come  to  him,  and  how  this  fact  had  tied  and  bound  his 
hands. 

"  But  it  has  grown  to  such  a  pass,"  he  said,  "  that 
I  had  come  to  breaking-point,  and  now  I  can  never  go 
back  to  her  again.  I  have  found  you,  my  one  dear 
love,  and  I  will  never  leave  you  more." 

Halcyone  shook  her  head  sadly,  and  asked  him  to 
listen  to  her  side.  And  when  he  knew  that  her  leaving 
La  Sarthe  Chase  had  been  brought  about  because  of 
his  letter  to  Cheiron  having  been  posted  from  London, 
so  that  she  hoped  to  find  him  there,  it  added  to  his  pain 
to  feel  that,  even  in  this  small  turn  of  events,  his  action 
had  been  the  motive  force. 

But,  as  she  went  on,  her  pure  and  exquisite  love  and 
perfect  faith  shining  through  it  all  seemed  to  draw 
his  soul  out  of  the  mire  in  which  it  had  lain.  And  at 
last  they  knew  each  other's  stories  and  were  face  to 
face  with  the  fateful  moment  of  to-day,  and  he  ex- 
claimed gladly : 

318 


HALCYONE 

"  My  darling,  now  nothing  else  matters  —  we  will 
never,  never  part  again." 

Then,  as  he  looked  into  her  eyes,  he  saw  that  not 
gladness  but  a  solemn  depth  of  shadow  grew  there,  and 
he  clasped  both  her  hands.  A  cold  agony  chilled  his 
whole  being.     What,  O  God,  was  she  going  to  say? 

"  John,"  she  whispered,  all  the  tenderness  of  the 
angels  in  her  gentle  voice  as  she  leaned  and  kissed  the  sil- 
ver threads  in  his  dark  hair.  "  John,  do  you  remem- 
ber, long  ago  when  we  spoke  of  Jason  and  Medea,  and 
you  asked  me  the  question  then,  Must  he  keep  his  word 
to  her  even  if  she  were  a  witch?  — and  I  told  you  that 
was  not  the  point  at  all:  it  was  not  because  she  was 
or  was  not  a  witch,  but  because  it  was  his  word?  " — 
Here  her  voice  broke,  and  he  could  hear  the  tears  in 
it,  and  he  wildly  kissed  her  hands.     Then  she  went  on: 

"  Oh,  my  dear  lover,  it  is  the  same  question  now. 
You  cannot  break  your  word.  Nothing  but  misfor- 
tune could  follow.  It  is  a  hard  law,  but  I  know  it  is 
true,  and  it  is  fate.  We  put  in  action  the  force  which 
brings  all  that  we  receive,  and  we  who  have  courage 
pay  the  price  without  flinching,  and,  above  and  beyond 
all  momentary  pleasure  or  pain,  we  must  be  true  to  our- 
selves." 

"  I  cannot,  I  cannot !  "  he  groaned  in  agony.  "  How 
can  you  condemn  me  to  such  a  fate  ?  —  tied"  to  this 
woman  whose  every  influence  is  degrading  to  me ;  parted 
from  you  whom  I  adore  —  I  would  rather  be  dead.  It 
is  not  fair  —  not  just,  if  you  onl}r  knew!" 

Then  he  continued  wildly.     "  Ah,  God  —  and  it  is  all 

319 


HALCYONE 

because  I  forgot  the  meaning  of  your  dear  and  sacred 
pledge  with  me  that  I  must  always  be  good  and  true ! 
If  I  could  suffer  alone  —  my  darling,  my  soul !  —  then  I 
would  go  without  a  word  back  to  hell,  if  you  sent  me. 
But  you,  too  —  think,  Halcyone !  Can  you  bear  your 
life?  You  who  are  so  young,  separated  for  ever- 
more from  love  and  me.     Oh !  my  own,  my  own  — " 

Here  he  stopped  his  mad  rush  of  words  —  her  face 
was  so  white  and  grave  —  and  he  let  her  draw  her- 
self from  him,  and  put  her  hands  upon  his  shoulders, 
while  her  eyes,  with  tender  stars  of  purity  melting  in 
their  depths,  gazed  into  his. 

"  John,'*  she  said,  "  do  not  try  to  weaken  me.  All 
Nature,  who  is  my  friend,  and  the  night-winds  and 
their  voices,  and  that  dear  God  Who  never  deserts  me, 
tell  me  that  for  no  present  good  must  we  lower  our- 
selves now.  Nothing  can  ever  hurt  me.  Go  back  and 
do  that  which  being  a  gentleman  entails  upon  you  to 
do  —  and  leave  the  rest  to  God.  This  is  the  winter  of 
our  souls,  but  it  will  not  last  forever.  The  spring  is 
at  hand,  if  you  will  only  trust,  and  believe  with  me  that 
first  we  on  our  side  must  be  ready  to  pay  the  price." 

Then  she  bent  forward  and  kissed  him  as  an  angel 
might  have  done,  and,  without  speaking  more,  rose  and 
prepared  to  walk  towards  the  stairway  which  descended 
to  the  lower  court. 

He  followed  her,  and  she  turned  before  she  began  to 
descend  the  steps,  while  she  pointed  to  the  beautiful 
country. 

"  Look  at  the  vines,  all  heavy  with  grapes,"  she  said, 

320 


H  A  L  C  Y  O  X  E 

"  and  the  fields  shorn  of  their  corn,  and  the  olives 
shimmering  in  the  sunset ;  and  then,  dear  lover,  you 
will  know  that  all  things  have  their  sequence,  and  our 
time  of  joy  will  come.  All!  sweetheart,  it  is  not  fare- 
well for  ever;  it  is  only  that  we  must  wait  for  our 
spring." 

"  Halcyone,"  he  said,  while  his  proud  eyes  again 
filled  with  tears,  "  you  have  the  absolute  worship  of 
my  being.  You  have  taught  me,  as  ever,  the  truth. 
Go,  ni}r  darling,  and  I  will  do  as  you  wish,  and  will  try 
to  make  myself  more  worthy  of  3-our  noble  soul.  God 
keep  you  until  we  meet  again." 

She  did  not  speak;  she  only  looked  at  him  with  a 
divine  look  of  love  and  faith,  and  he  watched  her  as 
she  went  down,  it  seemed,  out  of  the  very  heart  of  the 
setting  sun  and  into  the  shadows  beneath,  and  so  dis- 
appeared from  his  adoring  eyes  in  a  peaceful  purple 
twilight. 

Then  he  returned  to  the  old  stone  seat  and  leaning 
forward  gazed  out  over  the  exquisite  scene. 

A  great  hush  had  fallen  upon  his  torn  heart.  And 
thus  he  stayed  motionless  until  the  night  fell. 


m 


CHAPTER  XXXII 

^RS.   CRICKLANDER  awaited  Mr.  Hanbury- 

Green's  coming  quite  impatiently.  She  felt  she 
wanted  a  little  warmth  and  humanity  after  the 
chilling  week  she  had  passed  with  her  betrothed.  What 
she  meant  to  do  with  this  latter  she  had  not  yet  made 
up  her  mind  —  the  justice  of  an  affair  never  bothered 
her,  and  her  complete  unconsciousness  of  having  com- 
mitted any  wrong  often  averted  her  action's  immediate 
consequence.  That  Mr.  Hanbury-Green  should  suffer, 
or  that  John  Derringham  should  suffer,  mattered  to  her 
not  one  jot.  She  was  really  and  truly  under  the  im- 
pression that  only  her  personal  comfort,  pleasure  and 
feelings  were  of  any  importance  in  the  world.  Her 
brain  always  guarded  these  things,  and,  when  they 
were  not  in  any  jeopardy  or  fear  of  being  inconven- 
ienced, then  she  was  capable  of  numbers  of  kind  and 
generous  actions.  And,  if  she  had  ever  been  reproached 
about  her  colossal  selfishness,  she  would  have  looked 
up  astonished,  and  replied: 

"  Well,  who  is  nearer  to  oneself  than  oneself?  " 
Common  sense  like  this  is  not  to  be  controverted. 
It  would  only  be  when  she  was  growing  old  that  she 
would  feel  the  loneliness  of  knowing  that,  apart  from 

322 


HALCYONE 

the  passion  which  she  had  inspired  because  of  her  sex 
and  her  beauty,  not  a  single  human  being  had  ever 
loved  her.  For  the  present  she  was  Venus  Victrix,  a 
glorious  creature,  the  desired  of  men  —  and  that  was 
enough. 

Mr.  Hanbury-Green  was  a  forceful  person,  un- 
hampered by  any  of  the  instincts  of  a  gentleman,  and 
therefore  armed  with  a  number  of  weapons  for  winning 
his  battles.  He  had  determined  to  rise  to  the  top  upon 
the  wave  of  class  hatred  which  he  had  been  clever 
enough  to  create,  and  he  neither  knew  nor  cared  to 
what  state  of  devastation  he  might  bring  the  country. 
He  was  a  fitting  mate  in  every  way  for  Cecilia  Crick- 
lander,  and  completely  equipped  to  play  with  her  at  her 
own  game. 

So,  when  they  met  in  her  sitting-room  in  the  Flor- 
entine hotel,  each  experienced  a  pleasurable  emotion. 

His  was  tempered  —  or  augmented  —  by  a  blunt  and 
sufficiently  brutal  passion,  which  only  the  ideal  of  cir- 
cumspect outward  conduct  which  dominates  the  non- 
conformist lower  middle  classes,  from  which  he  had 
sprung,  kept  him  from  demonstrating,  by  seizing  his 
desired  prize  in  his  arms. 

He  was  frankly  in  love,  and  meant  to  leave  no  stone 
unturned  to  oust  John  Derringham  from  his  position 
as  fiance  of  the  lady  —  John  Derringham,  whom  he 
hated  from  the  innermost  core  of  his  heart ! 

Mrs.  Cricklander  fenced  with  him  admirably.  She 
did  not  need  Arabella's  coachings  in  her  dealings  with 
him ;  he  was  quite  uncultured,  and  infinitely  more  appre- 

323 


HALCYONE 

ciatcd  what  her  old  father  had  been  used  to  call  her 
"  horse  sense "  than  he  would  have  done  her  finest 
rhapsody  upon  Nietzsche.  Mrs.  Cricklander  had  in- 
deed with  him  that  delightful  sense  of  rest  and  ceasing 
from  toil  that  being  herself  gave.  She  felt  she  could 
launch  forth  into  as  free  a  naturalness  as  if  she  had 
been  selling  little  pigs'  feet  in  her  grandfather's  original 
shop.  And  all  to  a  man  who  was  rising  —  rising  in 
that  great  country  of  England,  where  some  day  he 
might  play  a  role  no  less  than  Tallien's,  and  she  could 
be  "  Notre  dame  de  Thermidor." 

Arabella  had  once  told  her  of  this  lady's  story,  and 
she  felt  that  the  time  in  Bordeaux  when  the  beautiful 
Therese  wore  the  red  cap  of  Liberty  and  hung  upon 
the  arm  of  one  who  had  swum  in  the  blood  of  the  aris- 
tocrats, must  have  been  an  experience  worth  having 
in  life.  Her  study  of  Madame  Tallien  went  no  further ; 
it  was  the  lurid  revolutionary  part  in  her  career  that 
she  liked. 

Mr.  Hanbury-Green  was  very  careful  at  first.  He 
was  quite  aware  that  he  was  only  received  with  em- 
pressement  because  he  was  successful ;  he  knew  and  ap- 
preciated the  fact  that  Cecilia  Cricklander  only  cared 
for  members  of  a  winning  side.  He  felt  like  that  about 
people  himself,  and  he  respected  her  for  the  way  she 
fought  to  secure  a  footing  among  the  hated  upper 
classes,  and  then  trampled  upon  their  necks.  There 
were  no  shades  of  her  character  which  would  have  dis- 
gusted or  dismayed  him;  even  the  knowledge  that  her 
erudition  was  merely  parrot-talk,  would  only  have  ap- 

324 


HALCYONE 

pealed   to    his   admiration   as   a    further   proof   of   her 
sagacity. 

They  went  on  to  Venice  the  day  after  he  arrived, 
with  Arabella  to  make  a  chaperoning  third,  and  for 
the  first  two  days  afterwards  Cecilia  kept  him  at  arm's 
length,  but  not  waiting  for  his  dinner!  Some  instinct 
told  her  that  in  his  home  circle  he  would  probably  have 
been  accustomed  to  worthy,  punctual  women,  and,  while 
she  enjoyed  tantalizing  him,  she  knew  that  he  had 
a  nasty  temper  and  could  not  be  provoked  too  far. 
No  bonds  of  honor  or  chivalry  would  control  his  actions 
as  they  would  those  of  John  Derringham.  She  was 
dealing  with  as  lawless  a  being  as  herself,  and  it  was 
very  refreshing.  Mr.  Hanbury-Green  knew  her  one 
weak  point  —  she  was  intensely  sensitive  of  the  world's 
opinion,  as  are  all  people  who  inwardly  know  they  are 
shams.  She  would  have  hated  to  be  the  center  of  a 
scandal,  from  the  point  of  view  that  it  would  irrepara- 
bly close  doors  to  her;  and  her  resentment  of  barriers 
and  barrier-makers  was  always  present. 

This  he  would  remember  as  his  strong  card  —  the 
last  to  be  played. —  If  she  continued  being  capricious 
until  the  moment  of  her  -fiance's  expected  return,  he 
would  use  all  his  cunning  —  and  it  was  no  inconsider- 
able quantity  —  and  compromise  her  irrevocably,  and 
so  get  her  to  surrender  upon  his  terms.  For  he  had 
made  up  his  mind,  as  he  sped  to  Florence,  that  Cecilia 
Cricklander  should  return  to  England  as  his  wife. 

They  had  four  days  of  the  usual  gay  parties  for 
every  meal  —  there  happened  to  be  a  number  of  people 

325 


HALCYONE 

passing  through  and  staying  at  Venice  —  and  the  early 
September  weather  was  glorious  and  very  hot. 

Mrs.  Cricklander  delighted  in  a  gondola.  There  was 
something  about  it  which  set  off  her  stately  beauty,  she 
felt,  and  she  reveled  in  the  admiration  she  provoked; 
and  so  did  Mr.  Hanbury-Green  —  he  prized  that  which 
the  crowd  applauded.  But  time  was  passing,  and  noth- 
ing the  least  definite  was  settled  yet,  although  he  knew 
he  had  obtained  a  certain  mastery  over  her. 

On  the  Friday  evening  a  telegram  was  received  from 
John  Derringham  saying  he  would  return  on  the  Satur- 
day night,  and  Mr.  Hanbury-Green  felt  this  was  the 
moment  to  act.  He  had  no  intention  of  having  any 
quarrel  with  his  rival,  or  of  putting  himself  in  the  po- 
sition of  being  called  upon  to  give  an  account  of  him- 
self. The  news  of  his  dismissal  must  be  conveyed  to 
John  Derringham  by  the  lady  as  that  lady's  free  and 
determined  choice. 

So  Mr.  Green  was  very  cautious  all  the  Friday  even- 
ing, and  made  himself  as  irresistible  as  he  could,  using 
all  his  clever  wits  to  flatter  and  cajole  Cecilia,  and 
leaving  not  a  trifle  unconsidered  which  could  interfere 
with  his  plans. 

They  were  simple  enough. 

He  claimed  to  have  discovered  a  quite  new  and  quite 
charming  spot  on  the  Lido,  which  he  was  most  anxious 
to  take  Mrs.  Cricklander  to  see  alone  —  he  put  a  stress 
upon  the  word  alone,  and  looked  into  her  eyes.  They 
would  go  quite  early  and  be  back  before  tea,  as  John 
Derringham  had  timed  himself  to  arrive  upon  the  main- 

S26 


HALCYONE 

land  about  seven  o'clock,  and  would  be  at  the  Daniellis, 
where  they  were  all  staying,  for  dinner. 

Mrs.  Cricklander  felt  she  must  have  one  more  de- 
lightful afternoon,  and,  as  this  excursion  might  con- 
tain a  spice  of  adventure*  it  thrilled  her  blood.  She 
had  been  exquisitely  discreet  —  in  public  —  forcing 
Arabella  always  to  talk  to  Mr.  Hanbury-Green,  and 
devoting  herself  to  Lady  Maulevrier,  or  any  other  lady 
or  old  gentleman  who  happened  to  be  present.  And 
then  she  felt  free  to  spend  long  hours  alone  with  Mr. 
Hanbury-Green  in  her  sitting-room,  whose  balcony  hung 
over  the  beautiful  canal.  No  one  could  say  a  word  — 
Arabella's  discretion  could  always  be  counted  upon ;  and 
pleasure  was  secured. 

She  looked,  perhaps,  more  beautiful  than  she  had 
ever  done  in  her  life  as  they  started.  Mr.  Hanbury- 
Green  had  hired  a  special  gondola,  not  the  one  they 
were  accustomed  to  float  about  in, —  and  off  they  went. 
Where  was  the  harm,  in  broad  daylight!  and  with  Ara- 
bella to  accompany  them  —  as  far  as  the  last  steps,  and 
then  to  be  dropped?  Cecilia  felt  like  a  school-girl  on 
a  forbidden  treat. 

When  they  were  well  out  of  sight  of  all  observation, 
Mr.  Hanbury-Green  began.  He  told  her  that  he  loved 
her,  in  all  the  most  impressive  language  he  was  master 
of;  he  felt  that  with  her  he  might  with  safety  and 
success  use  the  same  flamboyant  metaphors  and  ex- 
aggerations with  which  he  was  accustomed  to  move 
his  constituents.  No  restraint  or  attention  to  accuracy 
was  necessary  here.  And  if  his  voice  in  his  honest 
22  327 


HALCYONE 

excitement  would  have  sounded  a  little  cockney  in  Ara- 
bella's cultured  ears,  Cecilia  Cricklander  did  not  notice 
it.  On  the  contrary,  she  thought  the  whole  thing  was 
the  finest-sounding  harangue  she  had  ever  heard  in  her 
life. 

He  went  on  to  say  that  he  could  not  live  without 
her,  and  implored  her  to  throw  over  John  Derringham 
and  promise  to  be  his  wife. 

"  He  thinks  you  are  madly  in  love  with  him,  darling," 
he  said,  knowing  this  would  sting,  "  and  will  stand  any 
of  his  airs.  Let  him  see  you  are  not.  Give  him  the 
snub  he  deserves  for  deserting  you,  and  fling  his  dis- 
missal in  his  face." 

Cecilia  Cricklander  reddened  and  thrilled,  too.  Here, 
at  all  events,  was  warmth.  But  she  was  not  won  yet. 
So  she  looked  down,  as  if  too  full  of  emotion  to  speak. 
She  must  gain  time  to  consider  what  this  would  mean, 
and,  if  worth  while,  how  to  lay  her  plans. 

Should  the  scheme  contain  certain  elevation  for  her- 
self and  certain  humiliation  for  John  Derringham,  then 
there  was  something  worthy  of  consideration  in  it,  for 
undoubtedly  Percy  Hanbury-Green  suited  her  the  better 
of  the  two,  as  far  as  just  the  men  themselves  were 
concerned.  She  knew  she  would  get  desperately  tired 
of  having  to  live  up  to  John  Derringham's  standard,  and 
a  divorce  in  England  would  not  be  so  easily  obtained, 
or  so  free  from  scandal,  as  her  original  one  in  America 
had  been.  But  she  must  think  well,  and  weigh  the 
matter  before  plunging  in. 

Mr.  Hanbury-Green  saw  her  hesitation  and  instantly 

328 


HALCYONE 

applied  another  forceful  note.  He  dwelt  upon  the  po- 
litical situation  and  grew  eloquent  and  magnetic,  as 
when  he  was  on  the  platform  —  for  was  he  not  playing 
for  stakes  which,  for  the  moment,  he  valued  even  more 
than  some  thousands  of  votes? 

It  was  no  wonder  Cecilia  Cricklander's  imagination 
grew  inflamed.  He  let  her  see  that  as  his  wife  she 
would,  for  seven  years  or  more,  ride  on  the  crest  of  the 
wave  of  an  ever-rising  tide  to  undreamed-of  heights  of 
excitement  and  intrigue.  "  With  you  at  my  side,  dar- 
ling," Mr.  Green  said  passionately,  "  I  could  be  stimu- 
lated into  being  Dictator  myself.  The  days  of  kings 
and  constitutions  are  over.  The  people  want  a  strong 
despotic  leader  who  has  first  brought  about  their  down- 
fall.    And  they  will  get  him  —  in  ME  !  " 

This  clinched  the  matter,  and  Cecilia,  seeing  visions 
of  herself  as  Madame  Tallien,  allowed  herself  to  be 
drawn  into  his  arms  ! 

•  •  ••«••• 

"  Do  you  know,  my  beauty,"  the  triumphant  lover 
said  as  they  floated  back  to  pick  up  Arabella  upon  the 
last  steps,  rather  late  in  the  afternoon,  "  I  had  meant 
to  get  you  somehow  to-day.  If  you  had  refused  to 
listen,  I  intended  to  take  you  to  the  Lido  and  keep 
you  there  all  night  —  the  gondolier  and  the  people  there 
are  bribed  —  then  you  would  have  had  no  choice  but  to 
marry  me.     Oh,  you  cannot  balk  me  !  " 

And  all  Cecilia  Cricklander  replied  was,  with  a  girlish 
giggle  of  pleasure: 

"  Oh,  Percy,  dear !  " 

329 


HALCYONE 

In  the  innermost  recesses  of  their  hearts  there  are  a 
number  of  cold  women  who  adore  a  bold  buccaneer  1 

She  had  made  one  stipulation  with  him  before  they 
landed,  and  this  was  one  which  in  the  future  —  little 
as  she  knew  it  then  —  would  rob  her  of  all  her  triumph 
over  John  Derringham,  and  plant  an  everlasting  and 
bitter  sting  in  her  breast. 

She  insisted  that,  as  she  did  not  wish  to  create  a 
nine  days'  wonder,  no  mention  of  his  engagement  to 
herself  should  be  made  public  by  Mr.  Hanbury-Green 
for  at  least  a  month  after  people  were  aware  that  she 
had  closed  hers  with  John  Derringham.  All  should 
be  done  with  decency  and  in  order,  so  as  not  to  militate 
in  any  way  against  her  future  position  as  queen  of  the 
winning  side. 

And,  knowing  that  he  had  already  telegraphed  the 
announcement  that  the  marriage  arranged  between  the 
Right  Honorable  John  Derringham  and  Mrs.  Vincent 
Cricklander  would  not  take  place,  so  that  it  should  ap- 
pear in  the  Monday  morning  papers  —  Mr.  Hanbury- 
Green  felt  he  could  safely  comply  with  her  caprice 
and  bide  his  time.  He  had  not  the  slightest  intention 
of  ever  permitting  a  whim  of  hers  to  interfere  with  his 
real  wishes  in  any  way,  and  having  a  full  command 
of  her  own  weapons  and  methods,  he  looked  forward 
to  a  time  of  uninterrupted  bliss  when  once  she  should 
be  his  wife.  To  dissemble  for  a  month  or  so  would 
not  hurt  him,  and  might  even  amuse  him  as  a  new 
game. 

So  they  entered  Daniellis  in  subdued  triumph,  and 

330 


H ALCYONE 

said  good  night  before  Arabella,  with  prim  decorum, 
and  then  Cecilia  mounted  to  make  herself  look  beautiful 
for  the  flinging  of  his  conge  in  John  Derringham's 
face. 


CHAPTER  XXXIII 

Vw^HEN  Halcyone  left  the  Fortezza  she  was  con- 
W  j  scious  of  no  feeling  of  depression  or  grief. 
Vs^X  Rather  a  gladness  and  security  filled  her  heart. 
She  had  seen  him  with  her  mortal  eyes  —  her  dear 
lover  —  and  he  was  in  truth  greatly  in  need  of  all  her 
care  and  tender  thoughts.  Her  beliefs  were  so  in- 
tense in  those  forces  of  protection  with  which  that 
God  Whom  she  worshiped  so  truly  surrounded  her,  that 
she  never  for  a  moment  doubted  but  these  invisible  cur- 
rents would  be  directed  to  the  disentangling  of  des- 
tiny's threads. 

She  made  no  speculations  as  to  how  this  would  be  — 
God  would  find  the  way.  Her  attitude  was  never  one 
of  pious  resignation  to  a  divine  chastisement.  She  did 
not  believe  God  ever  meant  to  chastise  anyone.  For 
good  or  ill  each  circumstance  was  brought  about  by 
the  individual's  own  action  in  setting  the  sequence  of 
events  in  motion,  as  the  planting  of  seed  in  the  early 
spring  produced  fair  flowers  in  the  summer  —  or  the 
bruising  of  a  limb  produced  pain.  And  the  motion 
must  go  on  until  the  price  had  been  paid  or  the  pleasure 
obtained.  And,  when  long  ago  she  had  heard  Cheiron 
and  John  Derringham  having  abstruse  arguments  upon 
Chance,    she   used    silently   to   wonder   how   they    could 

332 


HALCYONE 

be  so  dull  as  not  to  understand  there  was  no  such 
thing  really  as  Chance  —  if  people  were  only  enabled  to 
see  clearly  enough.  If  they  could  only  trace  events  in 
their  lives  to  their  sources,  they  would  find  that  they 
themselves  had  long  ago  —  even  perhaps  in  some  former 
existence  —  put  in  motion  the  currents  to  draw  the  events 
to  themselves.  What  could  be  called  "  chance  "  in  the 
matter  was  only  another  name  for  ignorance. 

And,  if  people  knew  about  these  wonderful  forces  of 
nature,  they  could  connect  themselves  witli  only  the 
good  ones,  and  protect  themselves  from  the  bad.  Mis- 
fortune came  through  —  figuratively  —  not  knowing 
just  where  to  put  the  feet,  and  through  not  looking 
ahead  to  see  what  would  be  the  result  of  actions. 

Only,  above  and  beyond  all  these  forces  of  nature 
and  these  currents  of  cause  and  effect,  there  was  still 
the  great,  eternal  Source  of  all  things,  who  was  able 
to  dispel  ignorance  and  to  endow  one  individual  with 
the  power  to  help  another  by  his  prayers  and  thoughts. 
This  God  could  hasten  and  bring  Happiness,  if  only  He 
were  believed  in  with  absolute  faith.  But  that  He 
would  ever  stoop  to  punish  was  an  unheard-of  blas- 
phemy. He  was  only  and  entirely  concerned  with 
good.  Punishments  came  as  the  results  of  actions.  It 
followed  then  that  John  Derringham,  having  paid  the 
price  of  much  sorrow  for  all  his  mistakes,  would  now 
come  into  peace  —  and  her  prayers,  and  exceptional 
advantages  in  having  been  allowed  for  years  to  learn 
the  forces  of  nature,  would  be  permitted  to  help  him. 
That  he  would  be  obliged  to  marry  Mrs.  Cricklander 

333 


HALCYON E 

would  seem  to  be  an  overexaction,  and  not  just.  But 
they  were  not  the  judges,  and  must  in  all  cases  fulfill 
their  part  of  honesty  and  truth,  no  matter  what  might 
betide. 

These  were  her  convictions,  and  so  they  caused  her 
to  feel  only  a  God-like  calm  —  as  she  went  away  into 
the  purple  shadows  of  the  old  streets. 

Cheiron  and  she  had  been  at  San  Gimignano  for  half 
a  week,  and  almost  every  child  in  the  place  knew  and 
loved  her.  She  had  always  a  gracious  word  or  a  merry 
smile  when  they  clustered  round  her,  as  is  their  friendly 
way  with  all  travelers,  when  she  came  from  the  Cathe- 
dral or  the  strange  old  solitary  chapel  of  St.  Jacopo. 

The  Professor  was  waiting  for  her  on  the  hotel  steps, 
and  he  saw  by  seme  extra  radiance  in  her  face  that 
something  unusual  had  happened. 

"  What  is  it,  my  child?  "  he  asked,  as  they  went  in 
and  up  to  their  dinner  in  the  big  salle  a  manger  upon 
the  first  floor,  which  was  then  nearly  always  empty  of 
guests. 

"  John  Derringham  is  here,  Master,"  she  said  — 
;<  and  we  have  talked,  and  now  all  shadows  are  gone  — 
and  we  must  only  wait." 

"  I  am  glad  to  hear  it,"  replied  Cheiron,  and  bristled 
his  brows. 

This  is  all  that  was  said  between  them  on  the  sub- 
ject, and,  immediately  the  meal  was  over,  they  re- 
tired to  their  rooms.  But  when  alone  in  hers,  Hal- 
cyone  took  from  the  silken  wrappings  the  Goddess 
Aphrodite,  and  in  the  divine  eyes  read  a  glad  blessing, 

334 


HALCYONE 

and,  as  soon  as  her  head  touched  her  pillow,  she  fell 
into  a  soft  sweet  sleep,  while  the  warm  night  winds 
flew  in  at  the  wide-opened  windows  and  caressed  her 
hair. 

And  John  Derringham,  when  the  dark  had  fallen,  came 
down  from  his  high  watch  tower,  and  walked  slowly 
back  to  the  hotel,  leaning  upon  his  stick.  He  was 
still  filled  with  the  hush  of  his  loved  one's  serene  calm. 
Surely,  after  all,  there  must  be  some  truth  in  her  be- 
liefs, and  he  would  trust  to  them,  too,  and  wait  and 
hope  —  and  above  all  keep  his  word,  as  she  had  said, 
with  that  honor  which  is  entailed  upon  a  gentleman. 

He  ordered  his  motor  for  dawn  the  next  morning, 
so  as  to  be  away  before  the  chance  of  disturbing  the 
two  should  occur. 

The  rare  and  wonderful  sight  of  a  motor  in  those 
days  caused  a  crowd  to  collect  whenever  one  should 
arrive  or  depart.  It  was  an  unheard-of  thing  that  two 
should  visit  the  city  at  the  same  time  —  there  had  only 
been  three  in  the  whole  year  —  so  Halcyone,  when  she 
heard  the  whizz  next  morning,  bounded  from  her  bed 
and  rushed  to  peep  between  the  green  shutters.  Some 
instinct  told  her  that  the  noise  indicated  it  was  he  —  her 
dear  lover  —  about  to  start,  and  she  had  the  happiness 
of  gazing  down  upon  his  upturned  face  unperceived,  as 
his  eyes  searched  the  windows,  perhaps  in  some  vague 
hope  of  being  able  to  discern  which  was  hers. 

And  she  showered  upon  him  blessings  of  love  and 
tenderness,  and  called  all  the  currents  of  good  from  the 
sky  and  the  air,  to  comfort  and  protect  him  and  give  him 
23  335 


HALCYONE 

strength  to  go  back  and  keep  his  word.  And,  just  as 
he  was  starting,  a  white  pigeon  flew  down  and  circled 
round  John  Derringham's  head  —  and  he  was  conscious 
that  at  the  same  moment  the  sun  must  have  risen  above 
the  horizon,  for  it  suddenly  gilded  the  highest  towers. 
And  he  passed  out  of  the  dark  gate  into  its  glory,  and 
took  the  Siena  road,  a  mighty  purpose  of  strength  in 
his  heart. 

After  a  few  days  of  wandering,  during  which  he 
strove  not  to  let  grief  or  depression  master  him  again, 
he  sent  a  telegram  to  Venice  to  Cecilia  Cricklander. 
And  on  that  Saturday  evening,  he  walked  into  her  sit- 
ting-room with  a  pale  and  composed  face. 

She  was  seated  upon  the  sofa  and  arranged  with  every 
care,  and  was  looking  triumphantly  beautiful  as  she 
smoked  a  cigarette.  Her  fine  eyes  had  in  them  all  the 
mocking  of  the  fiend  as  she  greeted  him  lazily. 

"How  are  }Tou,  John?"  she  said  casually  —  and 
puffed  rings  of  smoke,  curling  up  her  red  lips  to  do  so 
in  a  manner  that,  John  Derringham  was  unpleasantly 
aware,  he  would  once  have  found  attractive,  but  that 
now  only  filled  him  with  disgust. 

"  I  am  well,"  he  said,  "  thank  you, —  better  for  the 
change  and  the  sight  of  some  most  interesting  things." 

"  And  I,  also,"  she  responded  with  provoking  glances 
from  under  her  lids,  "  am  better  —  for  the  change !  I 
have  seen  —  a  man,  since  which  I  seem  to  be  able  the 
better  to  value  your  love !  " 

And  she  leaned  back  and  laughed  with  rasping  mock- 

336 


HALCYONE 

ery,  which  galled  his  ears  —  although  for  sonic  strange 
reason  she  could  no  longer  gall  his  soul.  He  felt  calm 
and  blandly  indifferent  to  her,  like  someone  acting  in  a 
dream. 

"  I  am  glad  you  were,  and  are,  amused,"  he  said.  He 
had  not  made  the  slightest  attempt  to  kiss  her  in  greet- 
ing —  and  she  had  not  even  held  out  her  hand. 

"  You  are  quite  rich  now,  John,  aren't  you  ?  "  after  a 
short  silence  she  presently  asked  nonchalantly  — "  that 
is,  as  you  English  count  riches  —  ten  or  twelve  thousand 
a  year.     I  suppose  it  will  keep  you  in  comfort." 

He  leaned  back  and  smiled  one  of  his  old  cynical 
smiles. 

"  Yes,"  he  said,  "  it  is  extremely  rich  for  me ;  my  per- 
sonal wants  are  not  great." 

"  That  is  splendid,  then,"  she  went  on,  "  because  I 
shall  not  feel  I  am  really  depriving  you  of  anything  by 
doing  what  I  intend  to  do  in  throwing  you  over  — 
otherwise  I  should  have  been  glad  to  settle  something 
upon  you  for  life !  " 

As  he  listened,  John  Derringham's  eyes  flashed  forth 
steel,  but  the  pith  of  her  speech  had  in  it  such  divine 
portent,  as  it  fell  upon  his  ears,  that  the  insult  of  its 
wording  left  him  less  roused  than  she  hoped  he  would 
have  been. 

She  saw  that  it  was  joy,  not  rage,  which  lay  deep  in 
his  eyes,  and  the  fury  of  her  whole  nature  blazed  up, 
so  that  she  forgot  the  years  of  polish  that  she  had  ac- 
quired —  forgot  her  elaborately  prepared  plan  that  for 

337 


HALCYONE 

an  hour  she  would  torture  and  play  with  him,  as  a  cat 
plays  with  a  mouse,  and,  crimsoning  with  wrath,  she 
hurled  forth  her  displeasure,  cutting  things  short. 

"  You  are  only  a  paltry  fortune-hunter,  John  Der- 
ringham,  for  all  your  fine  talk,"  she  said  loudly,  raising 
her  voice,  and  allowing  it  to  regain  its  original  broad 
accent,  "  and  I  have  kept  you  on  just  to  punish  you. 
But,  if  you  thought  I  was  ever  going  to  marry  you  now 
that  you  are  no  better  than  a  cripple,  and  don't  amount 
to  thirty  cents  in  the  opinion  of  the  world  —  you  or 
your  Government  either !  —  you  made  a  great  mistake. 
I  have  something  much  more  delightful  on  hand  —  so 
you  can  take  back  your  ring  and  your  freedom  —  and 
go  and  find  some  meeker  woman  who  will  put  up  with 
your  airs." 

And  she  picked  up  from  a  table  beside  her  his  dia- 
mond gage,  which  she  had  taken  from  her  hand  be- 
fore his  entrance,  and  threw  it  over  to  him  —  and  then 
leaned  back  as  if  exhausted  with  anger  among  the  cush- 
ions. 

John  Derringham  had  grown  very  pale  as  the  insult- 
ing words  fell  from  her  lips  - —  and  now  he  rose  to  his 
feet,  and  standing  there  looked  at  her  with  pitying  con- 
tempt. 

"  Then  I  will  say  good-by,  Cecilia,"  he  said.  "  The 
manner  of  your  release  of  me  cancels  the  pain  it  might 
otherwise  have  caused  me.  I  can  only  wish  you  all  suc- 
cess with  any  new  venture  you  may  make  —  and  assure 
you  always  of  my  deep  respect." 

And,  calmly  putting  the  ring  in  his  pocket,  he  turned 

338 


HALCYONE 

round  and  slowly  left  the  room  —  when,  meeting  Ara- 
bella upon  the  stairs,  she  was  startled  to  see  him  shaking 
with  sardonic  laughter. 

"  Good-night,  and  good-by,  dear  Miss  Clinker,"  he 
said ;  "  I  am  glad  to  have  had  this  opportunity  of  thank- 
ing you  again  and  again  for  your  sweet  goodness  to  me 
when  I  was  ill;  it  was  something  which  I  shall  never 
forget." 

"  Oh,  Mr.  Derringham !  "  said  Arabella,  "  you  haven't 
parted  from  Mrs.  Cricklander,  have  you  ?  "  But  she 
saw  from  his  laughing  eyes  that  he  had,  and,  before  she 
was  aware  of  it,  good,  honest  soul,  she  had  blurted  out: 
"  Oh,  I'm  so  glad !  " 

Then  they  shook  hands  heartily,  to  hide  her  dreadful 
confusion,  and  John  Derringham  went  on  to  his  rooms 
at  the  Britannia,  where  he  was  staying,  with  nothing  but 
a  mad,  wild  joy  in  his  heart. 

What  did  Cecilia  Cricklander' s  insults  matter?  What 
did  anything  on  earth  matter?  He  was  free  to  go  and 
seek  his  beloved  one  —  and  have  every  sorrow  healed  as 
he  held  her  to  his  heart.  The  only  necessary  thing  now 
was  to  find  her  immediately,  which  would  require  some 
thinking  out.  It  was  too  late  to  get  an  answer  to  any 
telegrams  to  England  —  he  must  wait  until  the  morn- 
ing. Mrs.  Porrit  would  know  where  Cheiron's  next  ad- 
dress would  be.  Yes,  he  could  hope  to  come  up  with 
the  wanderers  perhaps  not  later  than  the  day  after  to- 
morrow. 

But  when  Arabella  entered  her  employer's  sitting-room 
after  wishing  him  good-by,  she  found  Mrs.  Cricklander 

339 


HALCYONE 

in  violent  hysterics,  and  she  had  to  have  the  doctor  and 
a  sleeping  draught  before  she  could  be  calmed. 

The  hatefulness,  the  impossible  arrogance  and  inso- 
lence of  the  man,  she  had  thought !  and  the  humiliation 
to  herself  of  knowing  full  well  that,  instead  of  making 
this  dismissal  a  scene  of  subtle  superlative  cleverness, 
so  that  through  all  his  torture  he  would  be  obliged  to 
admire  and  respect  her  skill  —  she  had  let  her  temper 
get  the  better  of  her,  and  had  shown  him  a  side  of  her- 
self that,  she  was  well  aware,  was  most  unrefined,  so 
that  he  had  been  able  to  leave  her,  not  as  a  humbled, 
beaten  cur,  as  she  had  intended,  but  feeling  what  she 
knew  to  be  unfeigned  contempt. 

No  wonder  she  had  hysterics !  It  was  galling  beyond 
compare,  and  not  all  Mr.  Hanbury-Green's  devotion  or 
flattery  next  day  could  heal  the  bitter  hurt. 

"  Oh,  how  I  will  help  you,  Percy !  "  she  said,  "  to  pull 
them  all  down  from  their  pedestals,  and  drag  them  to  the 
guillotine !  " 

And  Mr.  Hanbury-Green  had  laughed,  and  said  it 
gratified  him  greatly  to  feel  her  sympathy  and  coopera- 
tion would  be  with  him,  but  he  feared  they  would  never 
have  the  humorous  pleasure  of  getting  as  far  as  that ! 

And,  it  being  a  Sunday,  Arabella  Clinker  wrote  to  her 
mother  to  apprise  her  of  these  events. 

The  engagement  is  over  [Mrs.  Clinker  was 
told] — the  advent  of  Mr.  Hanbury-Green  (a 
very  unpleasant  personality,  afraid  of  being  polite 
to  me  in  case  I  should  fancy  myself  his  equal) 
seemed  to  clinch  matters  in  M.  E.'s  mind.     I  sup- 

340 


HALCYONE 

pose  he  was  able  to  give  her  some  definite  assur- 
ance of  the  future  of  the  Government.  In  any 
case,  I  could  see,  when  they  returned  from  their 
excursion  in  the  gondola  yesterday,  that  things 
were  upon  a  very  familiar  footing  between  them. 
Mr.  H.  G.  has  none  of  Mr.  Derringham's  re- 
straint or  refinement,  and,  after  M.  E.  had  seen 
Mr.  Derringham  and,  I  presume,  returned  him  his 
freedom,  she  had  a  terrible  fit  of  hysterics,  only 
calmed  when  Mr.  Hanbury-Green  entered  the 
room  and  suggested  emptying  the  water  jug  over 
her.  It  appears  he  has  a  sister  who  is  subject  to 
these  attacks,  and  this  is  the  onlv  method  which 
has  any  effect  upon  her.  I  suppose  in  his  circle 
they  would  have  a  number  of  crude  remedies 
which  we  are  unaccustomed  to,  but  it  seemed  to  be 
the  right  one  for  M.  E.,  who  pulled  herself  to- 
gether at  once. 

They  told  me  privately  that  they  are  engaged, 
but  do  not  intend  to  announce  it  yet,  and  I  be- 
lieve they  are  really  suited  to  each  other.  I  had 
thought  at  one  time  that  Mr.  Derringham  might 
be  equally  a  mate  for  her,  because  of  his  selfish- 
ness, but,  after  I  grew  to  know  him  when  he  was 
ill,  I  saw  that  he  was  infinitely  above  her,  and  not 
really  more  selfish  than  other  men  —  and,  as  you 
know,  I  have  extended  to  him  my  pity  and  com- 
miseration ever  since.  Your  liking  of  him  con- 
firmed my  good  opinion.  I  am  to  stay  on  with 
M.  E.  as  long  as  I  will,  because  Mr.  Hanbury- 
Green,  she  says,  is  not  cultivated  either,  and  I  may 
be  of  use  to  them  both,  she  thinks,  in  the  future, 
although  she  has  not  imparted  this  to  him.     I  do 

34*1 


HALCYONE 

not  believe  I  shall  like  having  to  render  his 
speeches  erudite,  because  my  political  convictions 
are  all  upon  the  other  side.  But  something  else 
may  turn  up,  and  it  is  a  comfort  to  know  things 
are  settled  for  the  present.  Mr.  Derringham 
looked  so  joyous  as  he  came  from  her  sitting- 
room,  after  his  dismissal,  that  I  am  sure  he  will 
go  off  at  once  to  that  person  I  have  often  given 
you  a  hint  about, —  and  his  restoration  to  health 
may  consequently  be  looked  upon  as  a  certainty. 
I  fear  the  influences  we  shall  have  to  live  under 
now  will  not  encourage  that  high  tone  which  en- 
deavoring to  keep  up  with  Mr.  Derringham  and 
his  party  entailed,  and  it  may  grow  more  than  I 
can  bear.  The  inference  to  be  drawn  from  M. 
E.'s  defection  to  the  other  side  is  not  felicitous, 
and  gives  me  cause  for  the  most  gloomy  forebod- 
ing as  to  the  future  of  the  country,  because  she 
would  never  have  done  it  if  she  had  not  received 
from  Mr.  Hanbury-Green  absolute  guarantees 
that  with  him  she  will  occupy  the  highest  position. 
Everything  Conservative  is  vieux  jeu  now,  she 
says,  and  she  must  go  with  the  tide. 

And  from  this  the  letter  wandered  on  to  personal  mat- 
ters. 

Meanwhile  John  Derringham  had  received  Mrs.  Por- 
rit's  answer  and  had  ascertained  the  Professor's  prob- 
able address,  and  was  joyously  speeding  his  way  on  to 
Rome. 


CHAPTER  XXXIV 

^fl^^HE  Palace  of  the  Caesars  was  lying  in  blazing 
■  *  J  heat  when  Halcyone  and  the  Professor  decided 
^^*&S  to  spend  the  afternoon  there.  People  had 
warned  them  not  to  get  to  Rome  until  October,  but  they 
were  both  lovers  of  the  sun,  and  paid  no  heed.  It  would 
be  particularly  delightful  to  have  the  eternal  city  to 
themselves,  and  they  had  come  straight  down  from  San 
Gimignano,  meaning  to  pick  up  their  motor  again  at 
Perugia  on  their  way  back,  as  the  roads  to  the  south 
were  so  bad. 

They  had  only  arrived  the  evening  before,  and  felt  the 
Palatine  hill  should  be  their  first  pilgrimage.  It  was 
completely  deserted  in  the  heat  and  they  wandered  in 
peace.  They  had  gone  all  through  the  dark  rooms 
which  overlook  the  Forum,  and  had  reached  the  garden 
upon  the  top,  with  its  cypress  and  cool  shade.  Here 
Halcyone  sat  down  on  a  bench,  looking  over  the  won- 
derful scene.  She  wanted  to  re-read  a  letter  from  her 
Aunt  Roberta  which  had  arrived  as  they  were  starting 
out. 

The  old  ladies  were  delighted  with  their  accession  to 
a  modest  fortune,  the  matter  was  turning  out  well,  and 
the}'  hoped  to  have  their  ancient  brougham  repainted 
and  a  quiet  horse  to  draw  it,  before  very  long,  so  that, 

343 


HALCYONE 

even  when  it  rained,  they   could  have  the  pleasure  of 
going  to  church. 

William,  the  Aunt  Roberta  added,  was  really  growing 
a  little  old  for  so  many  duties,  and  would,  under  the 
new  and  more  prosperous  regime,  confine  himself  to  be- 
ing only  butler.  Halcyone  would  find  several  changes 
on  her  return ;  among  them  the  four  gates  had  been 
mended ! 

As  she  read  this  part  of  the  letter,  Halcyone  almost 
sighed !  The  gates,  especially  the  one  of  the  beech 
avenue,  had  always  been  such  friends  of  hers,  she  knew 
and  loved  each  crack.  And  then  her  thoughts  wan- 
dered, as  ever,  to  her  lover.  Where  was  he  and  how 
had  it  fared  with  him?  Her  serene  calm  was  not  dis- 
turbed —  she  felt  certainty  in  every  breath  of  the  soft 
warm  air  —  the  certainty  that  the  springtime  of  their 
souls  had  come. 

Now,  that  same  morning,  John  Derringham  had  ar- 
rived at  the  Grand  Hotel,  and,  after  breakfasting,  had 
made  his  way  to  the  hotel  to  which  Mrs.  Porrit  had  in- 
formed him  the  Professor's  letters  were  to  be  addressed. 
And  Demetrius,  whom  he  asked  for,  hearing  Mr.  Carl- 
yon  was  out,  was  able  to  give  him  information  as  to 
where  his  master  had  gone ;  so  that  he  set  off  at  once. 

The  Palace  of  the  Caesars  was  rather  a  labyrinth  to 
expect  to  find  anybody  in,  but  he  would  do  his  best. 
And  so  it  happened,  after  about  an  hour's  search,  that 
he  came  upon  Cheiron  alone,  just  as  he  reached  Livia's 
house. 

Mr.  Carlyon  held  out  his  hand. 

344 


HALCYONE 

"  Well,  John,"  he  said,  "  and  so  we  meet  again." 

His  old  pupil  shook  it  heartily,  and  Cheiron,  seeing 
that  joyous  light  in  his  eyes,  raised  his  left  penthouse 
with  a  whimsical  smile. 

"  Got  clear  of  the  Octopus,  I  should  imagine,"  he  said 
laconically.  "  Well,  better  late  than  never  —  Halcyone 
is  over  on  the  bench  under  the  cypress,  gazing  upon  the 
Tarpeian  rock ;  perhaps  you  may  like  to  go  to  her  — " 
and  he  pointed  in  that  direction. 

"  It  is  what  I  have  come  at  post-haste  from  Venice  to 
do,  Master,"  John  Derringham  said.  "  Mrs.  Cricklander 
was  kind  enough  to  release  me  on  Saturday  evening  — 
she  has  other  views,  it  seems !  " —  and  he  laughed  with 
his  old  boyish  gayety. 

Well,  I  won't  keep  you,"  Cheiron  answered. 
Bring  my  little  girl  back  to  the  hotel  when  these  gates 
shut.  No  doubt  you  will  have  enough  to  talk  about  till 
then,"  and  he  smiled  benignly. 

"  You  will  give  us  your  blessing,  Master?  "  John  Der- 
ringham asked.  But  the  Professor  growled  as  he  turned 
to  go  on. 

"  She  has  my  blessing  always,"  he  said,  "  and  you  will 
have  it,  too,  if  you  make  her  happy,  but  you  don't  de- 
serve her,  you  know,  John." 

John  Derringham  drew  himself  up  and  looked  straight 
out  in  front  of  him  —  his  face  was  moved. 

"  I  know  I  do  not,"  he  said,  "  but  I  hope  you  believe 
me,  Cheiron,  when  I  tell  you  that  I  mean  to  devote  the 
rest  of  my  life  to  attain  that  object  —  and  at  least  no 
man  could  worship  her  more." 

345 


it 

a 


HALCYONE 

"  Get  on  with  your  courting  then,  lad ! "  said  the 
Professor,  pointing  with  his  stick  in  Halcyone's  direc- 
tion, while  his  wise  eyes  smiled.  "  I  suppose  she  will 
think  you  perfect  in  any  case  —  it  is  her  incredible  con- 
viction ! "  And  with  this  he  shook  his  old  pupil's  hand 
again,  and  the  two  men  went  their  separate  ways ;  John 
Derringham  forgetful  of  even  his  lame  ankle  as  he  rap- 
idly approached  his  beloved. 

She  saw  him  coming  —  she  had  been  thinking  of  him 
deeply  in  an  exquisite  day-dream,  and  this  seemed  just 
the  sequence  of  it,  and  quite  natural  and  yet  divine. 

She  rose  and  held  out  both  hands  to  him,  the  radiance 
of  heaven  in  her  tender  eyes.  For  she  knew  that  all 
was  well  and  joy  had  come. 

And  they  spoke  not  a  word  as  he  folded  her  in  his 
arms. 


A  week  later  they  were  married  very  quietly  at  the 
Embassy,  and  went  south  to  spend  their  honeymoon, 
leaving  Mr.  Carlyon  to  go  back  to  England  alone.  He 
was  tired  of  wandering,  he  said,  and  sighed  for  the  com- 
forts of  the  orchard  house  and  his  pipe  and  his  Aris- 
totle. 

And  Aphrodite  went  with  the  bridal  pair,  no  doubt 
content. 

The  manner  of  Mrs.  Cricklander's  dismissal  of  John 
Derringham  had  left  him  unhampered  by  any  consid- 
eration for  her  feelings. 

And  when   she  read  the  announcement  in  the  New 

346 


HALCYONE 

York  Herald  the  day  after  the  wedding,  she  burned  with 
furious  rage. 

So  this  was  the  meaning  of  everything  all  along! 
It  had  not  been  Cora  Lutworth  or  his  political  preoccu- 
pations, or  anything  but  simply  the  odious  fact  that  he 
had  been  in  love  with  somebody  else !  This  wretched 
English  girl  had  taken  him  from  her  —  a  creature  of 
whose  existence  she  had  never  even  heard! 

And  the  world  would  know  of  his  marriage  before  her 
own  news  had  been  made  public !  The  gall  of  the  whole 
thing  was  hardly  to  be  borne! 

She  felt  that,  had  she  been  aware  that  John  Derring- 
ham's  affections  were  really  given  elsewhere,  nothing 
would  have  induced  her  to  break  off  the  engagement ! 
Mr.  Hanbury-Green  was  all  very  well,  and  was  being  a 
most  exceptional  lover,  only  this  hateful  humiliation 
and  blow  to  her  self-love  mattered  more  than  any  mere 
man! 

But  of  such  things  the  married  two  recked  not  at  all. 
Their  springtime  of  bliss  had  come. 

And,  as  they  sat  absolutely  alone  upon  the  inner  steps 
of  the  Temple  of  Poseidon  at  Paestum,  looking  out  upon 
the  sapphire  sea  and  azure  sky,  the  noble  columns  in 
front  of  them  all  bathed  in  golden  light,  and  a  solemn 
crow  perched  above  as  priest  to  bless  them,  Halcyone 
drew  the  wrappings  from  the  goddess's  head. 

"  See,  John,"  she  said,  "  Aphrodite  is  perfectly 
happy ;  she  is  smiling  as  never  before.  She  knows  that 
we  have  found  all  her  message."  And  she  laid  her  head 
against  his  shoulder  as  he  encircled  her  with  his  arm. 

347 


HALCYONE 


.. 


Dear,"  she  went  on,  with  that  misty  look  in  her 
serene  eyes  as  though  they  could  see  into  the  beyond, 
"  for  me,  however  much  beautiful  things  exalt  me  and 
take  me  to  God,  I  can  never  go  there  alone.  It  always 
seems  as  if  I  must  put  out  my  hand  and  take  your 
hand." 

"  Sweetheart,"  he  answered,  holding  her  close,  "  and 
long  ago  I  called  love  a  draught  of  the  poison  cup  — 
what  a  poor  blind  fool  was  I !  " 

"  Yes,"  she  said  tenderly.  "  John,  we  are  much  wiser 
now  —  and,  when  we  return  to  the  world  out  of  this  di- 
vine dream-country,  you  will  teach  me  of  that  life  which 
you  must  live  in  the  fierce  arena  where  you  will  fight 
for  a  principle  against  such  odds ;  and  I  shall  be  always 
there  to  comfort  you  and  give  you  of  my  sympathy  and 
tenderness.  And,  as  you  instruct  me  in  the  day  and 
its  strenuous  toils,  I  will  teach  you  of  the  soothing, 
peaceful  currents  of  the  night.  And  we  shall  know 
only  joy,  because  we  have  seen  how  it  always  comes  if 
we  go  straight  on  and  leave  the  tangled  threads  to 
God." 

John  Derringham  bent  and  kissed  her  lips  and  he 
murmured : 

"  My  darling  —  my  one  woman  with  a  soul." 


THE    END 

(2) 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 
Los  Angeles 


»U„  !„.-«•  Ante.  tMmnwl  h*»loW. 


A.M. 


< 


Form  L9- 


University  of  California 

SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 

405  Hilgard  Avenue,  Los  Angeles,  CA  90024-1388 

Return  this  material  to  the  library 

from  which  it  was  borrowed. 


£  MAY  01  2(00 


389 


THE  LIBRARY 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANftKr.RS 


UC  SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 


AA    000  372  498    6 


III  IN  III  II I 1  III  I"  1 1 A    000^ 

3  1158  01294  8336 


University  of  Calif< 

Southern  Region 

Library  Facilit; 


